Here’s what Madhav Chinnappa wrote in his LinkedIn message after Google laid him off as director of news

Madhav Chinnappa, who was director of Google’s News Ecosystem Development in London, was laid off by the company last month. The Indian-origin executive was part of Google for 13 years.

In his LinkedIn post, Madhav Chinnappa shared the news about his layoff and what he was planning to do next. In January this year, Google had announced that it would reduce its workforce by 12,000.

What Madhav Chinnappa wrote

In a lengthy LinkedIn post, Madhav Chinnappa wrote that he was “on gardening leave at the moment which allows too much time to contemplate work, career, life etc.”

Gardening leave refers to a period when an employee receives a salary but is not allowed to come to the office. During this period, the person is also prohibited from working for the competitors.

Madhav Chinnappa also changed his career graph on the professional networking platform and wrote “taking time to focus on my family” as his current job description. Chinnappa wrote that he was proud to have accomplished several things during his tenure at Google from the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund to the Digital News Initiative.

Madhav Chinnappa on his achievements at Google

The former Google News director said that he was proud of the Digital News Initiative at the tech giant. Chinnappa also praised the Google News Initiative Innovation Challenges. The Journalism Emergency Relief Fund, which helped a vulnerable part of the media ecosystem, was also lauded by Chinnappa.

On a lighter note, Chinnappa mentioned that he was proud of convincing his team to produce a Eurovision Doodle.

Chinnappa appreciates his team at Google

Madhav Chinnappa thanked his team and colleagues and stated that nothing could have been accomplished without their efforts. “And to be clear, not a single thing I mentioned above could have been achieved without my teammates and colleagues as everything is a team effort. There are too many to mention but they are a special bunch and I will miss them all!” he wrote.

What Madhav Chinnappa plans to do next?

Madhav Chinnappa admitted that he was in a “privileged position” of having some time to figure out what he wanted to do next. He explained that he had some pressing family matters that needed his attention in the near term.  Chinnappa wrote that "in the spirit of the Zen proverb that the tea cup must be empty before it can be full" he would take August off and spend September looking after his mother in India. Madhav Chinnappa plans to start thinking about work from October "with a view to doing more things in 2024"