Employees should prepare for additional layoffs, according to Google CEO Sundar Pichai

According to an internal document obtained by The Verge, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has issued a warning to staff members anticipating further layoffs. “Tough choices” must be made by the corporation, he said, in order to make room for investments.

 

Pichai said, “We have ambitious goals and will be investing in our big priorities this year,” in an internal message sent to every Google employee.

He said, “The reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices.”

According to The Verge, Google has let go of over a thousand workers across many divisions since January 10. “These role eliminations are not at the scale of last year’s reductions, and will not touch every team,” Pichai stated in the message, referring to the report’s assertion that Google lost 12,000 workers in 2023.

He said, “But I know it’s very difficult to see colleagues and teams impacted.” The goal of the 2024 layoffs, according to Pichai, was “removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas.”

He confirmed what many people at Google have been worried about: the impending “role eliminations”. “Many of these changes are already announced, though to be upfront, some teams will continue to make specific resource allocation decisions throughout the year where needed, and some roles may be impacted,” he said in the message, as reported by The Verge.

CEO of Alphabet and Google Sundar Pichai stated intentions to eliminate 12,000 positions in 2023, or around 6% of the company’s total staff worldwide.

“I must break some tough news. We have made the decision to cut almost 12,000 positions from our staff. A separate email has already been issued to the impacted US workers. This procedure will take longer in other countries because of local laws and customs,” Pichai said in an open letter.

According to Google’s CEO, the firm has conducted a thorough evaluation of all product categories and functional areas to make sure that employees’ roles and responsibilities are in line with the company’s top goals. “The roles we’re eliminating reflect the outcome of that review,” he said.

Pichai has previously said that Google would help staff members find their next opportunity. Being a nearly 25-year-old business, we will inevitably experience challenging economic times. These are critical times to hone our goals, restructure our cost structure, and allocate our resources and talent,” he said.