Google downsizes Area 120, cutting its projects and jobs in half in the process

Google’s recent talks of becoming 20% more efficient are already starting to take form. The first victim of these tight, new restrictions is Area 120, the company’s in-house incubator which has produced many forward-thinking and innovative projects. These have gone on to influence and directly shape Google’s core products, and without them, I don’t believe that most of the great Workspace features we enjoy today would be a thing whatsoever.

Area 120’s impact on Google’s core products

Don’t forget that it helped develop Gmail, AdSense, Google News and Google Cardboard. All but one of those have gone on to be vital to the company’s success! Most recently, it created GameSnacks, Rivet, ThreadIt, Aloud, and Tables – a project that recently exited beta and may go on to change the way we use Google Sheets, making them a whole lot more like Airtable.

As per Area 120’s lead, Elias Roman, the company is canceling out over half of its active projects to focus on AI-first alternatives instead. TechCrunch first learned of this from an undisclosed source, but Google later confirmed that this was the situation.

“We’ve recently shared that Area 120 will be shifting its focus to projects that build on Google’s deep investment in AI and have the potential to solve important user problems. As a result, Area 120 is winding down several projects to make way for new work. Impacted team members will receive dedicated support as they explore new projects and opportunities at Google.”

Google Spokesperson to TechCrunch

Projects and employment are being cut in half

That’s right, not only are half of the projects being canceled, but also half of the jobs, but as stated above, Google will seek to “support” impacted team members and potentially place them in other roles or in different departments outside of 120.

For those wondering, the canceled projects weren’t publicly released, but they were still unique. One was some sort of financial accounting project for Google Sheets, another sought to provide analytics to AR and VR, and yet another was shopping-focused. The last three were climate-related, according to TechCrunch with one being centered on EV car-charging maps with routing, another on carbon accounting for IT, and the last being carbon measurements for forests.

What it all means

It’s my guess that anyone being laid off at Area 120 who can’t find a position elsewhere in Google will likely lose employment entirely. Apparently, what was once a pool of 170 people is now down to about 100, but Google denies these numbers. I really only care that these employees find jobs that suit them and allow them to support their families. It would be an added bonus if Tables still comes to Google Workspace as some sort of Sheets rework, but only time will tell.