Google News Director Madhav Chinnappa Has Been Laid Off

Madhav Chinnappa, Google’s Director of News Ecosystem Development has been sacked by the tech giant.

His previous stints were with BBC, United Business Media and Associated Press Television News.

Source : Twitter

Madhav Chinnappa, Google’s Director of News Ecosystem Development has been sacked by the tech giant. Chinnappa said that he was being let go amid layoffs at Google, after a stint of almost 13 years. Chinnappa took to LinkedIn to announce that he was laid off. But, he added that he is in the “privileged position of being able to have some time to figure out his next move". The Indian-origin senior executive added that he is on a "gardening leave" at the moment.

“I am on gardening leave at the moment which allows too much time to contemplate work, career, life etc. In the end, I am proud of what I have been able to achieve during my almost 13 years at Google,” Chinnappa wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Chinnappa's LinkedIn profile says that he completed his BA in Economics and Policy Studies from Rice University and his completed schooling from Jakarta International School. He has around 29 years of professional experience. His previous stints were with BBC, United Business Media (UBM) and Associated Press Television News (APTN). He was the Head of Business Development & Rights at BBC, before joining Google.

To recall, layoffs across tech and IT majors have been taking place across tech giants Twitter, Facebook parent Meta, Google and Tech Mahindra, among others. Facebook parent Meta is said to have laid off almost 21,000 workers since November last year and has spent a significant amount of money on that. According to a report by SF Gate, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp-parent mentioned some of the costs of its “restructuring” this year in this week's quarterly earnings report.

Earlier last month, Google's mapping service app, Waze, is reportedly undergoing job cuts as the company aims to streamline operations and increase efficiency in line with a prevailing trend in Silicon Valley. As reported by news agency Reuters, sources indicate that Waze is currently in the process of transitioning its advertising software to Google Ads technology. Consequently, the company is reducing positions that primarily focus on Waze Ads monetisation. In a letter addressed to Waze employees, Chris Phillips, Vice President of Google's Geo unit, hinted at impending job cuts in departments such as sales, marketing, operations, and analytics, though no specific figures were mentioned.