Google’s Head of Human Resources, Eileen Naughton, has resigned from the company.
Naughton, who has worked at Google since 2006, became its Vice President of People in 2016.
She will not leave the company, but will instead be transitioned to another role at the company at an undisclosed date.
Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, said in a press statement, “Over the past 13 years, Eileen has made major contributions to the company in numerous areas, from media partnerships, to leading our UK operations, to leading our People Operations team through a period of significant growth—during which over 70,000 people have started their careers at Google.”
He added, “We’re grateful to Eileen for all she’s done and look forward to her next chapter at Google.”
In her own statement, Naughton said she was stepping down to focus on her family, “My husband and I have decided—after six years on the road, first in London and now San Francisco—to return home to New York to be closer to our family.”
She added, “I’m at the very beginning of the process, and wanted to let everyone know upfront, as I’ll be working with Sundar and Ruth [Porat, Google’s CFO] to find a great leader for the People Operations team.”
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Naughton’s tenure as Head of Human Resources at Google was not one without controversy and challenges.
The company has been accused of mishandling employees’ sexual harassment claims, leading to mass walkouts by employees at Google offices globally.
Some employees also claimed the company retaliated against them for labor organising.
The search engine giant has also been put on the spot over its poor handling of issues surrounding diversity. Particularly its low retention rate of employees of color.
Google has since addressed these issues by giving more benefits to contractors, updating its process for reporting internal misconduct and ending the forced arbitration for employees.
