Google Lays Off 200 in Sales and Marketing

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Citing inefficiencies created by the company's rapid growth of the past several years, Google plans to cut approximately 200 positions globally in its sales and marketing organizations.

For companies in hyper-growth such as Google has experienced, "it's almost impossible to get everything right," SVP of Global Sales and Business Development Omid Kordestani wrote in a blog post today.

"In some areas we've created overlapping organizations which not only duplicate effort but also complicate the decision-making process," Kordestani said. "That makes our teams less effective and efficient than they should be. In addition, we over-invested in some areas in preparation for the growth trends we were experiencing at the time."

Today's announcement marks only the second significant headcount reduction in Google's history. The first came in January, when the company let go approximately 100 recruiters.

While Kordestani made no reference to cost savings as a motivator in the cuts, Google has lately taken aggressive steps to trim costs and eliminate underperforming products. Among the many Google projects shuttered in the last two months: its Print Ads and Audio Ads programs, which never took off as hoped with advertisers.

Kordestani said Google initially considered alternatives to dismissing staffers but eventually decided the restructuring is necessary to maintain the effectiveness of the company's sales efforts. He said all people laid off will receive a severance package and outplacement services.