Google has laid off Craig Hunter, YouTube’s global head of kids and family original content.
Hunter announced the news through LinkedIn yesterday (Sunday), saying, “Sad to share that I, too, am one of the 12,000 impacted by the Google layoffs. I’m heartbroken for my time there to end so abruptly.”
The job cuts represent 6% of Google’s workforce—the largest layoff in the tech giant’s history.
In a statement to employees last Friday, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai called the measure “a difficult decision to set us up for the future,” adding that, “over the past two years, we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.
“We’ll need to make tough choices. So we’ve undertaken a rigorous review across product areas and functions to ensure that our people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company. The roles we’re eliminating reflect the outcome of that review. They cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions.”
In his time at YouTube, Hunter was the driving force who brought original series such as Goldieblox’s The Eggventures and Tiger Aspect Kids & Family’s Corpse Talk to the video-sharing platform. When he first joined YouTube in 2021 as its first-ever global head of preschool, the kids and family team was at the tail end of spending a US$100-million kids content fund, and he inherited a slate that featured multiple acquisitions and more than 20 series in development. He was also tasked with sourcing new scripted and unscripted content.
In February 2022, YouTube promoted Hunter to global head of kids and family at YouTube Originals. His new remit encompassed oversight of all original kids films and series, including live-action, animated, unscripted and live programming.
Hunter came to the techco from Sony Pictures Television in the UK, where he headed up kids programming and the company’s linear and VOD businesses, including regional kids channel Pop. He also previously worked at Nickelodeon, Disney and Channel 4.
The Google layoffs have also impacted other YouTube Originals staffers, including global head of casting and talent Danny Zaccagnino (a former Viacom/MTV Networks casting director); creative executive Zoë Di Stefano, whose remit included scripted, unscripted and kids programming; and global production lead José Mangual.