Google has laid off its director of mental health and wellbeing in the company’s ongoing job cuts, estimated to affect six percent of its workforce.
The tech giant is currently in the process of laying off 12,000 employees, including senior managers like Kristin Maczko, head of the company’s mental health division, who has been with Google for 15 years.
“I am one of the 12K Googlers whose role was eliminated last Friday in the #Googlelayoffs,” Maczko wrote in a LinkedIn post, announcing her layoff.
Maczko started working with Google as a data scientist in 2008 before moving to finance.
She was appointed director of mental health and wellbeing at Google in July 2021 – a position she held until her role was eliminated last week.
Mackzo said in the LinkedIn post that serving as director of Google’s mental health initiative was a “dream role” that allowed her to apply her “psychology training in an organizational context to improve the wellbeing of Googlers.”
“I have grown so much in my 15 years at Google. For most of that time, I worked in analytics and finance roles, where I had the privilege to work with amazing people to grow Google’s business.
“In 2021, I made a pivot to lead the Mental Health and Wellbeing team, a dream role that allowed me to apply my psychology training in an organizational context to improve the wellbeing of Googlers,” she wrote in the post.
She said she had so many emotions these past few days.
“I am sad to leave the many friends and colleagues who I have worked with at Google. I am adjusting to the beginnings of a new life, and treating the experience with tenderness and curiosity about what my next chapter might bring,” her LinkedIn post said.
While thanking her former team mates for their contributions, she tells those who remain: “Googlers need you more than ever now, and I am excited to see what you will do.”
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