TechCrunch: ‘Google Cancels Half the Projects at Its Internal R&D Group Area 120’

Sarah Perez, reporting for TechCrunch:

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, speaking at the Code Conference last week, suggested the tech company needed to become 20% more efficient — a comment some in the industry took to mean headcount reductions could soon be on the table. Now, it seems that prediction may be coming true. TechCrunch has learned, and Google confirmed, the company is slashing projects at its in-house R&D division known as Area 120.

The company on Tuesday informed staff of a “reduction in force” that will see the incubator halved in size, as half the teams working on new product innovations heard their projects were being canceled. Previously, there were 14 projects housed in Area 120, and this has been cut down to just seven. Employees whose projects will not continue were told they’ll need to find a new job within Google by the end of January 2023, or they’ll be terminated. It’s not clear that everyone will be able to do so. [...] TechCrunch learned of the changes from a source with knowledge of the matter. Google confirmed the changes in a statement.

Perhaps they should rename it “Area 60”?

★ Thursday, 15 September 2022