Google CEO Sundar Pichai Opens Up About Laying Off 12,000 Workers

 

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet and Google, has finally talked about the largest layoff the firm has experienced in 25 years. In an all-hands meeting, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, made the choice to eliminate 6% of its workforce justified, according to Sundar Pichai.

According to Sundar Pichai, the 12,000 job losses, or 6% of Alphabet’s personnel, were necessary to help the business adapt to changing market conditions and set itself up for future expansion. He added that postponing the layoffs would have impeded the expansion of the business. He did concede, though, that Google should have handled the layoffs more skillfully.

The CEO of Google remarked, “This is difficult for any company to go through,” during the discussion. We truly haven’t had anything like that at Google in 25 years, the executive said, adding that it was “a very, very difficult decision.”

The Google CEO stated that it was not a good idea to notify the staff members about the layoffs right away, calling the choice “difficult but necessary.” Regardless of time zone, Google communicated a layoff to all fired employees at the same moment. Google did not notify the impacted employees in advance.

In 2022, Google made the largest layoffs in company history. The “Golden 12K” were the laid-off workers. The workers who were let go were given hefty severance benefits. Google also extended its vacation time and 2022 bonuses to them. For impacted workers, the corporation further offered six months of healthcare, job placement assistance, and visa support.