Google is reportedly bringing the Maps and Waze teams under one roof
What you need to know
- Google is apparently merging the teams behind Maps and Waze.
- The move means that Waze’s current CEO, Neha Parikh, will step down.
- Google has no plans to lay off employees from the Waze team as part of a broader cost-cutting measure.
Waze has maintained complete autonomy since it was acquired by Google in 2013, with the team operating independently of its parent company, but that is no longer the case. On Friday, December 9, Google folded the team into its Geo business.
According to The Wall Street Journal (opens in new tab), the restructuring is part of Google’s larger effort to cut costs by streamlining the business. Waze will continue to operate as a separate application from Google Maps, although it will be merged into the Geo organization, which oversees Maps, Google Earth and Street View. The merger will result in less overlapping work on both services.
Waze’s 500 employees will also join Google’s Geo group, meaning no layoffs are planned for the team. Unfortunately, the reorganization means Waze CEO Neha Parikh will leave her role, a company spokesperson told WSJ.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, acquired Waze in 2013 for about $1 billion. Currently, the platform serves approximately 150 million monthly users. Although it remained independent, some of its popular features were carried over to Maps, such as the ability to report nearby gas prices, get traffic delay alerts, and add stops to your route.
“Google remains deeply committed to Waze’s unique brand, its beloved app and its thriving community of volunteers and users,” Waze’s head of PR Caroline Bourdeau told The Verge (opens in new tab).
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in September that he wants to make Google 20% more efficient by becoming leaner and reliant on fewer resources.
Many tech behemoths have introduced their own cost-cutting measures in response to uncertain global economic challenges, mostly involving mass layoffs. Meta has laid off more than 11,000 employees following a similar move by Twitter. Amazon’s employees at its Devices & Services division were not spared either.
While the latest move has raised concerns among Waze employees, Google reiterates that it has no plans to terminate existing staff at the service. “By bringing the Waze team into Geo’s portfolio of real-world mapping products, such as Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View, the teams will benefit from further increased technical collaboration,” Bourdeau told The Verge.
