Google to cut marketing budgets by up to half and freeze hiring
Google is said to be slashing its marketing budgets by as much as half as the tech giant begins to feel the impact of the coronavirus crisis.
In internal emails seen by CNBC, Google told marketing employees the budgets would be cut in the second half of the year, while new hiring would be frozen for full-time and contract staff.
“There are budget cuts and hiring freezes happening across marketing and across Google,” said one message from a global director.
“We, along with the rest of marketing, have been asked to cut our budget by about half for H2.”
The drastic measures mark a ramping up of Google’s mitigation efforts after chief executive Sundar Pichai last week said the company would put the brakes on hiring for the rest of 2020.
At the time Pichai said only “non-business essential” marketing would be affected and that hiring would only be slowed.
“As we outlined last week, we are re-evaluating the pace of our investment plans for the remainder of 2020 and will focus on a select number of important marketing efforts,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
“We continue to have a robust marketing budget, particularly in digital, in many business areas.”
Ahead of the Covid-19 crisis, Google had outlined plans to increase its marketing budget this year.
But in a memo last week Pichai said the tech giant would reevaluate its investment for the remainder of the year.