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- YouTube is offering employee buyouts amid a major reorganization.
- CEO Neal Mohan said in a memo to staff that YouTube needs to set itself up to take advantage of AI.
- Read the full memo below.
YouTube is offering employee buyouts as part of a major reorganization, CEO Neal Mohan said on Wednesday in a memo to staffers that was obtained by Business Insider.
“Looking to the future, the next frontier for YouTube is AI, which has the potential to transform every part of the platform,” Mohan wrote. “We need to set ourselves up to make the most of this opportunity.”
Mohan said YouTube, which is owned by Google, was creating three separate product organizations that would report directly to him: viewer products, creator and community products, and subscriptions products.
No layoffs were planned as part of the reorganization, which is set to take effect on November 5.
“But we also understand some of you may be ready for a new challenge, so we’ve decided now is the right time to offer a Voluntary Exit Program,” Mohan said, adding the YouTube employees in the United States would be receiving more information about the buyout option.
Several companies have recently made cuts to their workforce — in part due to AI. Amazon announced this week that it was slashing more than 14,000 jobs in order to position itself to innovate faster in the age of AI.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported record earnings on Wednesday, achieving its first-ever $100 billion quarter.
Read Mohan’s full memo to YouTube employees below:
Hi YouTubers,Over the last 20 years, YouTube has grown from a scrappy video-sharing site into one of the world’s largest streaming platforms. Our success has been built on big, bold bets that have paid off year after year, from launching the YouTube Partner Program to investing in the Living Room. Today, those investments have created a thriving business: we’ve paid over $100B to our ecosystem, secured our position as the #1 streamer in the US for over two years, and built a subscriptions engine with over 125 million M+P and 8M YouTube TV subscribers.Looking to the future, the next frontier for YouTube is AI, which has the potential to transform every part of the platform. We need to set ourselves up to make the most of this opportunity. That means ensuring every fast-growing area gets the focus and investment it needs to succeed, building deeper expertise behind our core businesses, and driving faster decision making and execution. To do that, we are creating three separate Product organizations that will report directly to me:
- Viewer Products: This team will focus on the viewer experience, including improvements to Search & Discovery, accelerating growth in the Living Room, increasing engagement with our strategic audiences, investing in our world-class infrastructure, and continuing to build on our foundation of responsibility. This team will be led by Johanna. It will bring together CoreX, Living Room, Infrastructure, and Trust & Safety and will be split across three pillars led by Emily, Jennie, and Woojin.
- Creator & Community Products: This team will focus on driving creation through GenAI tools, Shorts, Live, and supporting creators of all sizes. It will also focus on building community across the platform. It will bring together Creator, led by Amjad, and EMCO, led by Toni. We will open a search to find a leader of this team, and Johanna will lead in the interim.
- Subscription Products: This team will focus on driving our subscriptions growth across Music & Premium and OTT to take advantage of the tremendous opportunity in this space. This team will be led by Christian and will bring together Music, led by T.Jay; Premium, Commerce, and Nitrate, led by Will; and OTT, for which we will hire a new leader.
I am also pleased to announce that JT will take on an expanded role, as the head of UX. In addition, the UX org will move under Scott. Engineering and UX are both teams which work horizontally across the organization, and we believe that by bringing these teams together, they can both benefit from scaled processes and best practices. Shopping, led by Travis, will continue to report to Scott.These changes will take effect on November 5. There are no role eliminations as part of this reorganization. You can view the updated org chart here. Aparna, Mary Ellen, Matt and Shachar will continue leading their teams, reporting directly to me.It’s an incredibly exciting time at YouTube and many opportunities and challenges lie ahead. But we also understand some of you may be ready for a new challenge, so we’ve decided now is the right time to offer a Voluntary Exit Program. Starting today, eligible US YouTubers in my direct-reporting org have the ability to voluntarily leave with a severance package. US YouTubers will receive more details in a separate note.I have never been more excited about the future of YouTube. We have grown in size, scope and complexity over the years, but our core leadership structure has not evolved in a decade. I believe that these changes will set us up well to continue our success.- Neal
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