Google Cloud is terminating dozens of support roles as part of a reorganization within the unit, Insider has learned.
The company informed relevant employees this week that their roles were being eliminated and said it would be consolidating other teams in select regions and shifting some responsibilities to vendors, according to emails seen by Insider and two people familiar with the matter.
Google Cloud's support teams, known as technical solutions engineers, help customers and engineers when they're having problems with Google Cloud applications. They also build internal products to assist with support.
The cuts will help the unit save money. Google grew cloud revenue 45% year on year in the fourth quarter to $5.5 billion. However, the division is still unprofitable and trails behind Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure in the market. Insider previously reported that Google Cloud has been focusing on hiring for customer support roles in Mexico City as a cost-cutting move.
The cuts affect support engineers in California, Austin, Zurich, and Sydney, according to the people familiar, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. They also stretch across a variety of Cloud products including Looker, the data analytics company Google acquired for $2.4 billion in early 2020.
Employees who are losing their jobs have been given 60 days to find new positions within the company. Those who don't will be eligible for severance, according to an email seen by Insider.
"To build a sustainable operating model that enables us to delight and improve Googler wellbeing over time, we are accelerating our strategy to move some work to our Support hubs and vendors and are restructuring our operations to create further efficiencies," Google's Cloud support VP Atul Nanda wrote in one of the emails to staff on Thursday.
He later added: "We realize that reorganizations can be difficult, and we did not make these decisions lightly."
In a different email sent to support staff, employees were told that Google would reshuffle its support organization into four teams: Google Cloud, Looker, Workspace, and M&A. Workspace refers to Google Cloud's suite of cloud productivity software previously known as G Suite.
A Google spokesperson told Insider in a statement: "As Google Cloud grows, we frequently evaluate our approach to providing the best service and support for our customers. The changes announced today will ensure we have the right people, partners, and systems in place to meet our customers' needs now and into the future."
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