Google chief hints job cuts may be needed for productivity gains
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Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai is looking to make Google "20% more productive," and hinted that along with product-line innovation, that may call for job reductions.
Speaking at Code Conference, Pichai acknowledged employee criticism about the company's growing bureaucracy, saying "Across everything we do, we can be slower to make decisions."
âSometimes there are areas to make progress [where] you have three people making decisions; understanding that and bringing it down to two or one improves efficiency by 20%,â he noted.
In the summer, the company had responded to widespread industry concern about layoffs by saying it wasn't then looking to reduce workforce - but that it would depend on the economy.
In his talk, Pichai didn't see the clouds clearing just yet. "The more we try to understand the macroeconomic, we feel very uncertain about it," he said. âThe macroeconomic performance is correlated to ad spend, consumer spend and so on."
He also defended Google against growing claims that it engages in anticompetitive behavior, saying it's "pro-competitive" and faces rivals like Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) in its wheelhouse advertising space, and TikTok (BDNCE) as a video rival (even if YouTube Shorts is off to a "great start").
âDo I wake up and worry about all the stuff thatâs coming down? Absolutely," Pichai said, referring to the DOJ's existing lawsuit over search market dominance and one likely upcoming on digital ads.