Google Fiber losing ‘hundreds’ of employees but continues KC expansion

Google Fiber is reportedly trimming its employee count after announcing its new CEO.

Business Insider reports that months after its former CEO Craig Barratt resigned, Google Fiber has hired Gregory McCray as the new leader of Access, the division of Google’s parent company Alphabet that includes Google Fiber. The gigabit provider also will lose “hundreds” of employees that will be shifted into new roles within Google, including its cloud services, YouTube and hardware. The company said there will not be any layoffs related to the changes.

The news arrives amid speculation that Alphabet may be selling Google Fiber after it halted expansion to other cities and staff layoffs. 

“As any competitive business must, we have to continue not only to grow, but also stay ahead of the curve,” Barratt wrote in his departing blog post. “Some of our efforts will remain unchanged, but others will be impacted. In terms of our existing footprint, in the cities where we’ve launched or are under construction, our work will continue. For most of our “potential fiber cities” — those where we’ve been in exploratory discussions — we’re going to pause our operations and offices while we refine our approaches.”

Despite the changes, Google Fiber plans to continue its expansion in the Kansas City area. Kansas City was the first city to receive the gigabit service back in 2011.

“Google Fiber loves Kansas City and is here to stay,” a Google Fiber spokesperson said in a prepared statement. “We’ve been grateful to be part of your community since 2011, and for the opportunity to provide superfast Internet to residents. We just announced our expansion into Raymore last week, and we can’t wait for even more customers in Kansas City to experience what’s possible with Google Fiber.”

We’ll keep you updated on any developments as they relate to Kansas City.