Google and AI are to blame: Edutech company Chegg on cutting hundreds of jobs

Educational technology company Chegg has announced it will cut 388 roles globally. The company has blamed AI-powered tools and reduced traffic from Google for the latest round of layoffs, which accounts for about 45% of its workforce. In a statement to the news agency Reuters, Chegg, a company known for textbook rentals, homework help, and tutoring, said, “The new realities of AI and reduced traffic from Google to content publishers have led to a significant decline in Chegg’s traffic and revenue.” The company also noted that job cuts are part of Chegg’s efforts to reduce costs and streamline operations as it adapts to the evolving educational technology landscape. This comes after Chegg sued Google over AI-generated summaries that impacted its website traffic earlier this year in February.