Business

Google to cut down marketing budget and going into hiring freeze

Google to cut marketing budgets by as much as half, directors warned of hiring freezes.

Google is slashing its marketing budgets by as much as half for the second half of the year, according to internal materials viewed by eTrendy Stock.

One email about the cuts went out to marketing employees this week, noting the budget cuts and a new hiring freeze for full-time and contract employees.

“There are budget cuts and hiring freezes happening across marketing and across Google,” said one message from a global director sent to employees Wednesday. “We, along with the rest of marketing, have been asked to cut our budget by about half for H2.”

A company spokesperon confirmed that some areas’ budgets are being cut by as much as half, but added that others may not be since it is still in the process of “recalibrating.”

“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 an emailed statement to ETS Thursday. “We continue to have a robust marketing budget, particularly in digital, in many business areas.”

Google shares dropped nearly 2% after hours following the news.

The drastic moves come a week after Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Google would be pulling back on some of its investments for the rest of the year amid the Covid-19 crisis, starting with hiring. However, Pichai, at the time, only said it would recalibrate “non-business essential marketing” and “significantly slow down” hiring. There were not mentions of such drastic budget cuts or hiring freezes.

“Beyond hiring, we continue to invest, but will be recalibrating the focus and pace of our investments in areas like data centers and machines, and non business essential marketing and travel,” Pichai said in the note to employees last week.

The news also comes as the company faces economic headwinds caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has effected the global economy. eTrendy Stock Team last week also found the company started pulling back on skills training resources for many of its workers. It also comes days before the company is scheduled to announce its second quarter earnings next Tuesday.

The Google spokesperson said the company was not conducting a widespread hiring freeze but would not comment on why directors received such information.

“We’ll be slowing down the pace of hiring while maintaining momentum in a small number of strategic areas, and onboarding the many people who’ve been hired but haven’t started yet,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Prior to the pandemic, Google expected to increase marketing spending from the year prior. The company, which breaks outs marketing and sales expenses together, spent $18.46 billion on sales and marketing in 2019, according to its most recent annual 10-k.

That includes advertising and promotional expenditures related to products and services as well as compensation for employees in sales and marketing. Last year, it increased its headcount by at least 15%, the annual report shows. In addition, there was an increase in advertising and promotional expenses of $402 million.

“Just like the 2008 financial crisis, the entire global economy is hurting, and Google and Alphabet are not immune to the effects of this global pandemic,” CEO Sundar Pichai stated in the memo sent to employees last week. “We exist in an ecosystem of partnerships and interconnected businesses, many of whom are feeling significant pain.”

Morris

Morris is a Technology enthusiast and a writer by night. He has been a part of eTrendy Stock for quite some time and he contributes knowledgeable news articles from the Technology niche. He attended a technical school in Florida.

Recent Posts

Sunny Mining Unveils Weekend Incentive Contracts for Short-Term Crypto Profits

Los Angeles, California, 22nd August 2025, ZEX PR WIRE, As digital assets gain increasing attention,…

3 days ago

Price pullbacks are no longer the end: APT miners help XRP investors lock in daily gains

Los Angeles, California, 22nd August 2025, ZEX PR WIRE, After XRP once again fell below…

3 days ago

Irys Raises $10M Series A to Unlock $3 Trillion Data Economy With First Programmable Datachain

CoinFund-Led Round Accelerates Institutional Adoption of Infrastructure For Datachains London, UK, Aug 22, 2025, ZEX…

3 days ago

BJMINING Attracts Thousands of New Users Amid Crypto Rally, Delivering $7,000 Daily Returns

London, UK, 22nd August 2025, ZEX PR WIRE- With the launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum…

3 days ago

XRP holders cash out $5,777 per day through secure blockchain cloud mining.

Start your journey to wealth with one click. Miami, Florida, 22nd August 2025, ZEX PR…

3 days ago

PlanMining Helps XRP Investors Earn $8,800 in Passive Income Daily

London, England, 22nd August 2025, ZEX PR WIRE, In today’s volatile cryptocurrency market, maintaining asset…

3 days ago