Google, a company worth $1.7 trillion, lays off roughly 40 news employees

Illustration: Lou Carlozo

Baffling that a company that spends zillions of dollars on ridiculous “moonshots” (Google glass, anyone?) and is worth $1.7 trillion dollars can’t see straight enough to avoid layoffs that amount to chump change for a likely monopoly.

Illustration: Lou Carlozo

At any rate, the following excerpt was sent out from CNBC:

Google cut dozens of jobs in its news division this week, CNBC has learned, downsizing at a particularly sensitive time for online platforms and publishers.
An estimated 40 to 45 workers in Google News have lost their jobs, according to an Alphabet Workers Union spokesperson, who didn’t know the exact number.
A Google spokesperson confirmed the cuts but didn’t provide a number, and said there are still hundreds of people working on the news product.
“We’re deeply committed to a vibrant information ecosystem, and news is a part of that long-term investment,” the spokesperson said. “We’ve made some internal changes to streamline our organization. A small number of employees were impacted. We’re supporting everyone with a transition period, outplacement services and severance as they look for new opportunities at Google and beyond.”
Google News presents links to articles from thousands of publishers and magazines. It’s a popular tab for people who use Google search, allowing them to find top-ranked stories on a particular topic.
The cuts in Google News follow widespread layoffs across many parts of the company this year. In January, Google announced it was cutting 12,000 jobs, affecting roughly 6% of the full-time workforce. Last month, the company eliminated hundreds of positions from its recruiting organization.