Google layoffs: Sundar Pichai announces 10% job cuts in managerial roles

New Delhi: Google CEO Sundar Pichai has announced a reduction in the company's workforce, targeting a 10% cut in managerial roles, including directors and vice presidents. 

This move, disclosed in a company-wide meeting, underscored Google's ongoing efforts to enhance operational efficiency amid intensifying competition in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

Pichai emphasised that these changes are part of a broader restructuring strategy Google has been implementing over the past two years. 

The goal, according to Pichai, is to "simplify the company and make it more efficient," aligning resources with the tech giant's strategic priorities in light of economic challenges and AI advancements.

This isn't the first time Google has taken such measures; the efficiency drive began in September 2022 when Pichai set a target to make Google 20% more efficient. By January of the following year, this initiative had led to one of the company's largest-ever layoffs, affecting 12,000 employees, which was approximately 6% of its global workforce.

In the recent announcement, Pichai clarified that some of the managerial roles would be transitioned into non-managerial positions, known as individual contributor roles, while others would be eliminated entirely. 

The scale of layoffs across the tech sector is notable, with over 98,000 employees from 333 tech companies being let go in the first half of 2024 alone, according to layoff tracking sites.

During the same meeting, Pichai also addressed the concept of "Googleyness," a term used to encapsulate Google's core cultural values.