Google’s CEO Reportedly Calls for ‘Simplicity Sprint’ as Employees Fear Possibility of Layoffs

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is reportedly calling on his workers to implement a “Simplicity Sprint” initiative meant to crowdsource worker concepts round product improvement, drive up effectivity and, “get better results faster.” The proposal comes on the heels of a hiring freeze and a sequence of worrying emails that has some Googlers involved over the potential for layoffs.

The so-called Simplicity Sprint, first reported on by CNBC, reportedly got here up throughout an organization all-hands assembly final week. Pichai reportedly instructed staff they may share concepts for the dash up till August 15 by way of an inside survey. The survey reportedly consists of questions that probe areas the place the corporate might probably make cuts, based on a replica seen by CNBC.

Pichai reportedly made it clear that effectivity on the firm isn’t the place executives need it, notably in gentle of disappointing Q2 outcomes. Google’s general income was barely beneath analysts’ predictions whereas income progress slowed to 13%, down from 62% throughout the identical interval the earlier 12 months.

“I wanted to give some additional context following our earnings results, and ask for your help as well,” Pichai reportedly instructed workers. “It’s clear we are facing a challenging macro environment with more uncertainty ahead.”

On the query of layoffs, Google’s Chief People Officer, Fiona Cicconi, mentioned the corporate remains to be hiring for some vital roles and has no present layoff plans, however didn’t fully rule out layoffs down the road.

“We’re asking teams to be more focused and efficient and we’re working out what that means as a company as well,” Cicconi reportedly mentioned. “Even though we can’t be sure of the economy in the future, we’re not currently looking to reduce Google’s overall workforce.”

Google didn’t instantly reply to Gizmodo’s request for remark.

Last week’s assembly marks the newest in a sequence of alarming, at occasions cryptic communications between Google executives and workers alluding to potential more durable occasions forward. Early final month, Pichai reportedly despatched an electronic mail to workers urging staff to be “more entrepreneurial,” and mentioned the corporate would shift its focus to hiring for “critical roles” transferring ahead. Just weeks later, Google reportedly despatched a comply with up electronic mail the place it announced the corporate would implement a two week hiring freeze. That freeze got here after the corporate reportedly introduced on round 10,000 new staff in Q2.

“We’ll use this time to review our headcount needs and align on a new set of prioritized Staffing Requests for the next three months,” Google Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan reportedly mentioned within the electronic mail obtained by The Information.

Google’s warning to its workers displays a broader sense of unease throughout the tech business. A latest Crunchbass analysis discovered the tech business has misplaced greater than 30,000 jobs this 12 months as of late July. Those have come from almost each nook of the sector, from electrical car giants like Tesla to cryptocurrency heavyweight Coinbase.

There’s indicators that stress might be coming for the Big Tech giants as effectively. Last month, a senior Meta govt suggested managers to “move to exit,” poor-performing staff. A month previous to that, CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly thought-about slashing the hiring of its engineers by 30% for the rest of the 12 months, based on a leaked Q&A. Zuckerberg reiterated that glum sentiment throughout an all fingers assembly final week the place he reportedly mentioned the corporate had employed too aggressively throughout the pandemic, Reuters notes.

While the latest tech business downturns mark the clearest clarification for Google’s latest cautionary language, Pichai has confronted criticism from some who’ve mentioned his management on the firm is linked to a decline in efficiency. 15 present and former Google executives speaking to the New York Times final 12 months blamed Pichai for not transferring shortly sufficient on enterprise selections and creating an surroundings paralyzed by forms. Some former Google executives, like Noam Bardin, accused Pichai of missing the urge for food for threat so symbolic of tech business executives.

“The innovation challenges,” Bardin wrote in a blog post , “will only get worse as the risk tolerance will go down.”