Google will combine teams working on the Waze program with those working on Maps, the idea is to reduce costs for the development of two well-known maps and navigation programs, the Wall Street Journal writes. There is no notification of dismissal.

The head of Google recently said that he would like to increase productivity by 20% and noted that they will combine teams that work on applications that have a lot in common.

The 500 people who work at Waze will be part of the Geo division, which develops Maps, Earth and Street View applications.

Maps is a self-explanatory program. Waze also needs no introduction, with over 150 million users visiting it every day. Google Maps was launched in 2005 and has been constantly evolving since then. Waze was bought by Google in 2013 for $1.1 billion.

Unlike Meta and Amazon, Google has not announced any layoffs, but it will dramatically reduce the pace of hiring and “freeze” them in some areas. One way to increase productivity is to combine some departments that work on applications that have a lot in common, and here we have the case of maps.

Sources: WSJ, TechCrunch

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