Google CEO Sundar Pichai explains why the company keeps doing layoffs
Google is intentionally conducting waves of layoffs, CEO Sundar Pichai said.
Pichai said the company is "taking the time to do it correctly and well" in a Bloomberg interview.
Google began 2024 with thousands of cuts, particularly from engineering and hardware teams.
Google has conducted multiple rounds of layoffs this year — and the slow burn is intentional.
CEO Sundar Pichai told Bloomberg reporter Emily Chang that the company is "taking the time to do it correctly and well."
Though Pichai has received criticism of his leadership and the culture around layoffs, he said that as a leader of a large company, he makes "fewer consequential decisions, but they need to be clear."
He said in some cases, Google is simplifying teams, and in others, it's moving people to focus on new areas. The company is also removing some teams entirely to "improve velocity."
Google cut about 12,000 people in 2023 and started off 2024 with thousands more laid off. Areas ranging from core engineering to hardware teams have been affected.
At the time, Pichai said more layoffs were to come — and they did.
In April, the company laid off more staff from several finance and real-estate teams. It also announced it would move roles to Bangalore, Mexico City, and Dublin to build out its "growth hubs."
Google declined to say how many employees have been impacted by layoffs so far this year.
Pichai said in the interview that Google is "reallocating people" to its "highest priorities."
The cuts are an attempt to cut back on costs as the company develops its AI and cloud-computing capabilities. Some of these advancements include the creation of an ARM-based central processing unit, making TPU v5p more widely available, the release of Gemini 1.5, and various changes to Google Workspace.
In a layoff announcement from last year, Pichai said Google experienced "dramatic growth" over the past two years, which led to hiring "for a different economic reality than the one we face today."
A Google spokesperson told Business Insider that the company made a number of changes to become more efficient, remove layers, and align resources to its biggest priorities.
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