In tech layoff season, Google also prepares for purge, may cut 10,000 jobs: Report

Google’s outsized position comes amid staff cuts by fellow tech giants as its parent company Alphabet plans to fire a significant portion of its workforce — about 6 percent, or 10,000 people. Insiders have said that this will be done after identifying those who are performing below expectations. But at the heart of the impending cuts is the tough – and worsening – global financial situation, according to the tech news portal information.

Team managers have been asked to evaluate staff in a new “Ranking and Performance Improvement Plan”. Purification could begin as early as 2023, which means just a few more weeks.

In the previous performance review system, managers were expected to put 2 percent of employees in that bucket.

Google or Alphabet have yet to confirm any layoff plans. NDTV has contacted Google for comment on the report.

But CEO Sundar Pichai hinted at it a few months ago. He stated that Google believes as a company that “when you have fewer resources than ever, you’re prioritizing all the right things to get things done and your employees are really productive…”.

In its report, Information Said the system would first allow managers to decide not to pay bonuses. “As layoffs spread across Silicon Valley, Google hasn’t stood by cutting employees so far. But as outside pressure builds on the company to improve the productivity of its employees, a new performance management system will give managers next year’s In the beginning, it can help weed out thousands of low-performing employees.

Many big tech companies bet on the surge in online activity during Covid to continue even after the pandemic subsides. But that did not happen.

Facebook founder and meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said as much when he announced 11,000 job cuts, roughly 13 percent of the company’s workforce.

At Twitter, a change overdrive by new boss Elon Musk has meant 60 percent of its 7,000-odd staff are gone. He says that he will not deal with the losses, so almost everything needs to be restructured.

Google or Alphabet is also facing pressure from investors.

Activist investor TCI Fund Management recently called on the company to cut costs by reducing its headcount, saying it needs to adjust to an era of slower growth, according to news agency Reuters. The fund, an investor in Alphabet with a stake worth $6 billion since 2017, said the company has “too many employees and the cost per employee is too high”.

TCI said Alphabet pays some of the highest salaries in Silicon Valley, noting that the company has grown its workforce by 20 percent annually since 2017.