Sundar Pichai responds to reports of second mass layoff at Google

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. In its first round of layoffs, Google cut more than 12,000 jobs globally.

Following a second round of mass layoffs at Meta, when Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai was asked if Google is carrying out or planning something similar, he said that the company is prioritising and moving people to its most important areas. But, during the interview with Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Pichai did not rule out another mass layoff.

"We’re very, very focused on this set of opportunities we have, and I think there’s a lot of work left," Pichai told the publication referring to the company's ongoing work with its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Bard, new Workspace features in Gmail and Google Docs, and others.

"There’s also an important inflection point with AI. Where we can, we are definitely prioritising and moving people to our most important areas, so that is ongoing work," he added.

In its first round of layoffs in January, Google cut more than 12,000 jobs globally in an attempt for the company to become more efficient.

Speaking about making the tech giant 20 percent more efficient, Sundar Pichai told WSJ, "We’re literally looking at every aspect of what we do, and as we said on our last earnings call, we’re thinking about how to re-engineer our cost base in a durable way. We are definitely being focused on creating durable savings. We are pleased with the progress, but there’s more work left to do."

Responding to a question whether Google employees were asked to cut operating costs by 20 percent this year, Pichai said, "Yes, but not specifically worded that way."

"In different areas, we have different subgoals, but at a company level, do we have goals to durably improve our margins and drive long-term savings?" he added.

Read more: Amid Google layoffs, staff write open letter to Sundar Pichai with 5 demands: 'Don't be evil'