Sundar Pichai regrets Google's decision to lay off 12,000 employees

In a recent all-hands meeting, Google CEO Sundar Pichai responded to queries about the company's choice to lay off 12,000 employees earlier this year. Pichai admitted that the massive layoffs had a significant negative impact on morale, evident in the feedback received through "Googlegeist."

The decision to terminate a substantial number of employees at the start of 2023 was prompted by concerns about an impending economic downturn. A question posed during the meeting asked about the impact of this decision on Google's growth, profit and loss (P&L), and employee morale.

Pichai, 51, acknowledged the difficulty of the situation and expressed that Google had not faced a challenge of this magnitude in its 25-year history. He conceded that there might have been alternative approaches to handling the situation, stating, "Clearly it's not the right way to do it. I think it's something we could have done differently for sure."

The CEO emphasized the necessity of taking action to prevent a more detrimental outcome down the line, considering the significant global shifts taking place. Pichai recognized the impact on the company's capacity to invest in crucial areas if proactive measures were not taken.

The layoffs affected various teams across Google, including recruiting, some corporate functions, and specific engineering and product teams. The global layoffs had an immediate impact on US staff, as announced by Google earlier.

Despite the challenging circumstances, Pichai expressed regret about the negative impact on employee morale and acknowledged that there could have been alternative strategies to address the situation.