Sundar Pichai to Google employees: 'We shouldn’t always equate fun with money’

Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai faced workers' questions about spending cuts at an all-hands meeting held this week, according to a CNBC report.

The tech giant, amid rising inflation, interest rates and concerns about a potential recession, has slashed entertainment and travel budgets.

Sundar Pichai insisted that Google can retain its enjoyable culture while being responsible about spending.

"We shouldn’t always equate fun with money," Pichai said in an audio accessed by CNBC. "I think you can walk into a hard-working startup and people may be having fun and it shouldn’t always equate to money.”

He looked back on a time when Google was "small and scrappy".

The CEO also told employees it was important to be "smart and frugal" in uncertain times, and when the company was investing in long-term projects.

Pichai also hinted at slowing down hiring at Google.

“I think you could be a 20-person team or a 100-person team, we are going to be constrained in our growth in a looking-ahead basis,” he was quoted as as saying by CNBC. “Maybe you were planning on hiring six more people but maybe you are going to have to do with four."

Google, once known for spending freely on perks, is being cautious amid economic uncertainties.

Earlier this month, it had told senior managers to only travel for very important business trips, The Information reported.