Google CEO Sundar Pichai Announces 10% Job Cuts in Managerial Roles, Including Directors and Vice Presidents

According to a recent report by Business Insider, Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed the tech giant’s decision to reduce its workforce by 10% in managerial roles, including directors and vice presidents.

Google facing competitive stress

Google is continuously facing intense competition from AI-focused rivals such as OpenAI. Pichai addressed the news during an all-hands meeting, pointing to the company's ongoing efforts to streamline operations and stay ahead in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.

However, this reduction in the workforce is not a sudden layoff announcement but rather part of Google's broader restructuring strategy unfolding over the past two years.

According to a Google spokesperson, some job roles have been transitioned to individual contributor roles, while others have been eliminated. This realignment aims to optimize efficiency and align the workforce with the company's current objectives and challenges.

Googleyness

During the meeting, Pichai also touched upon the concept of "Googleyness," a term used internally to describe Google's unique culture and values.

He expressed the need to update and redefine what Googleyness means in the context of today's Google, signalling a cultural shift to align with the company's modern challenges and aspirations. This adjustment reflects Google's commitment to evolving and adapting to the ever-changing tech landscape.

In September 2022, Pichai shared his goal for Google to become 20% more efficient. Subsequently, in January, Google proceeded to cut 12,000 jobs as part of its efficiency drive.

Industry data from Layoffs.fyi reveals that a total of 150,034 employees have been laid off by 539 tech companies in 2024 so far.

In 2023, 1,193 companies laid off 264,220 employees, indicating the broader trend of restructuring and realigning workforces across the tech sector.

Big Tech companies like Google and OpenAI are actively racing to release consumer products that showcase the potential of AI technology. 

Introducing Veo 2, our new, state-of-the-art video model (with better understanding of real-world physics & movement, up to 4K resolution). You can join the waitlist on VideoFX. Our new and improved Imagen 3 model also achieves SOTA results, and is coming today to 100+ countries… pic.twitter.com/FtwNKyicEc

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) December 16, 2024

Notably, the introduction of AI-generated artwork, such as OpenAI's Dall-E and Google's Whisk, has captured public attention and opened the possibilities of AI in creative fields.

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