The platform is launching a voluntary redundancy program and simultaneously reorganizing teams across three product lines. In an internal letter, CEO Neil Mohan emphasized that the company has not announced any forced layoffs as part of this change.
The platform is launching a voluntary redundancy program and simultaneously reorganizing teams across three product lines. In an internal letter, CEO Neil Mohan emphasized that the company has not announced any forced layoffs as part of this change.
The program and new structure were revealed in an internal executive memo. According to Engadget, YouTube is offering employees voluntary severance packages and consolidating its operations around three areas: «viewer products,» «creator and community products,» and «subscription products.»
In the «For Viewers» direction, the team will focus on search and recommendations, audience retention, improved viewing on TVs and content safety policies. The «For Creators and Communities» unit will be responsible for creation tools (including generative AI), Shorts, Live and creator support. The «Subscriptions» team will focus on the growth of YouTube Premium, Music and the OTT service YouTube TV. This separation should accelerate decision-making and feature launches without duplication of work between teams.
The proposed «voluntary exits» are not buyouts of shares from employees, but rather cash packages for those willing to follow through on the agreement. The details of the packages were not disclosed in the letter. Typically, such programs include a one-time payment and the preservation of some benefits during the transition period. In this way, the company wants to give people who plan to change the opportunity to leave on acceptable terms, and in turn, to rebuild the structure more quickly without lists of «reduced positions.»
YouTube emphasizes the scale of the ecosystem: the service has been the leader among streaming platforms in the US for two years in a row, has 125 million Premium and Music subscribers, another 8 million on YouTube TV, and cumulative payments to creators and rights holders have exceeded $100 billion. The updated organization should directly support these areas: improve the relevance of recommendations, simplify the author’s path to monetization tools, and increase conversion to subscriptions.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how YouTube began implementing a deepfake detection tool that helps content creators find videos with unauthorized substitution of their face or voice and quickly demand the removal of such videos.
