Google’s ad sales unit gets AI overhaul, sparking job cut fears

Google is planning to reorganise a large part of its 30,000-strong ad sales unit as a result of the company's recent advances in artificial intelligence, according to a report by The Information. 

Last year, Google laid off around 12,000 employees in one round of cuts, making it the biggest job cut in the company's history.

According to The Information, the plan to ‘restructure’ the ad sales teams was shared internally by Sean Downey, Google's President of Americas and Global Partners following a meeting held last month. However, Downey did not confirm whether the restructure plans would lead to another round of job cuts, or not. 

The report indicated that AI is also set to make a significant shift on the operational front of Google that might lead to layoffs. 

Google aims to use AI among its internal ad sales teams for tasks such as scanning websites, automatically generating keywords, creating headlines and images.

Back in May 2023, Google declared that “a new era of AI advertising” is coming, introducing “a natural language conversational experience designed to accelerate ad campaigns and simplify the search experience”. 

Reflecting on the significant layoffs from the previous year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, defended the decision, stating that the layoffs were a difficult but necessary measure. He emphasised that without the layoffs, the company would have faced challenges in adapting to the shifting landscape and making essential investments in key areas.

The Information report also revealed that Google is planning to “streamline its workforce, including through potential layoffs to reassign employees in its large-account sales division who oversee partnerships with major advertisers”.

It is revealed that the openings are being replaced under the impact of automated productivity of Google’s new AI tools.

Google is yet to issue a statement on the story.