What CEO Sundar Pichai told employees when asked about more layoffs happening at Google

Google CEO Sundar Pichai

Google has laid off hundreds of employees in 2024. Unlike 2023, when it laid off 12,000 employees in one go, this year has seen layoffs happening in relatively small numbers and in phases. At an all-hands meet, Google CEO Sundar Pichai was quizzed by employees, according to a report by CNBC.

Pichai was asked when can employees expect an “end to the uncertainty and disruption that layoffs create?” The Google CEO said that most of the layoffs will take place in the first half of 2024. “Assuming current conditions, the second half of the year will be much smaller in scale,” Pichai told employees. He also said that Google will need to be “very, very disciplined” about hiring more employees throughout the year.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Pichai reiterated his comments about layoffs and said that the company is “taking the time to do it correctly and well.”

He also said that Google will continue to make tough choices. “There’s a lot of demand to do new things and, in the past, we would have just done it reflexively by growing headcount,” Pichai said. “We can’t do it now through the transition we are in,” he added, as per the report by CNBC.

Pichai also made it clear that as a company, Google is growing its expenses “but we’re moderating our pace of growth” Pichai said. “We see opportunities where we can re-allocate people and get things done,” he told Google employees.

Google posted good earnings results in the quarter gone by and was asked whether cost-cutting will continue at the company. As per reports, Google has reduced a lot of perks for employees — something it was once renowned for. Pichai attributed this to “working through a long period of transition as a company”. He said that Google wants to drive efficiencies and wants to do it forever.