Google has avoided mass layoffs, but employees are worried they’ll come

As industry-wide layoffs affect bigger tech names, some Google workers worry they are next.

While Google has so far avoided the widespread job cuts that have hit tech companies, especially those backed by a slumping advertising market, anxiety insiders are on the rise, according to documents seen by CNBC and unnamed employees.

Alphabet executives have emphasized the need to increase “centralization,” reduce the cost of projects, and make the company 20% more efficient. There’s also been a recent change in performance reviews, and some employees point to reduced travel budgets and less splashing of money as signs that something bigger could be on the horizon.

In July, CEO of Alphabet Sundar Pichai launched “Simple Sprint” in an effort to increase efficiency in an uncertain economic environment. Just a few miles on the road, meta told staff this month that it was lay off 13% of its employees, or more than 11,000 employees, when the company thinks advertising revenue is falling. take a shot announce a down 20% in August and Twitter only cut about half of its workforce is under the leadership of the new owner Elon Musk. Elsewhere in Silicon Valley, HP said on Tuesday it plans to lay off 4,000 to 6,000 employees in the next three years.

Google’s business hasn’t been hit as hard as many of its peers, but the combination of the potential for a recession, soaring inflation, and rising interest rates is having a clear impact. Last month, the company said YouTube’s advertising revenue shrink compared with a year earlier when Google posted its weakest period of growth since 2013, apart from a quarter during the pandemic. At the time, Google said it would significantly reduce headcount growth in the fourth quarter.

Cryptocurrency market, put a indentation in the latest Google resultsfell further with the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, leading to growing concerns about the contagion in the industry.

Company cancel the next generation of Pixelbook laptops, cut costs went to its Area 120 indoor nursery and said it would shutter its digital game service Stadia.

Termination concerns are growing, at least in certain corners. And some employees are turning to memes to express their worries through humor.

An internal meme shared with CNBC shows a cartoon character before and after. In the foreground, the character raises his hand with the caption “inflation raises wages!” In the background, a frightened figure sitting next to it captioned, “please don’t fire us.”

Another meme with the names of tech companies — “Meta, Twitter, Amazon, Microsoft” — recently fired employees alongside an image of a nervous anime character. There are also memes created related to a statement Last week from active investor TCI Fund Management, called on Pichai to cut wages and headcount through “positive action”.

Among the workforce, Pichai find myself on defense in September, when he was forced to explain the company’s changing position after years of hyper-growth. Executives said at the time that there would be small cuts and they did not rule out layoffs.

At a more recent hands-on meeting, a number of questions regarding possible layoffs were raised by employees on Google’s internal questioning system called Dory. There are also questions about whether executives mismanaged headcount.

“Looks like we added 36,000 full-time positions compared to the same period last year, increasing headcount by about 24%,” reads one of the top-rated questions. they’re losing staff, not getting there. Where did this number of people go? In hindsight and given the productivity concerns, should we be hiring that fast?

Employees wanted details after the company’s latest earnings call and comment from Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat about possible cuts.

One question read: “Can we get a better understanding of how we’re approaching headcount for 2023? Do we know how long we need to plan for tough headwinds ?”

Other questioners asked whether employees “should expect any direct consequences for our team, direction, and/or compensation for the drop in profits we saw during the call.” income” and ask, “how are we going to be 20% more productive? Will refocusing be enough? do we expect to be fired?

Earlier this year, Google said it was elimination Its long-standing practice is to hand out lengthy promotional packages, which are lengthy forms that employees need to fill out and include reviews from bosses and colleagues. The company has moved to a streamlined process called Googler Evaluation and Development (GRAD).

A Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the GRAD system was launched “to help employees develop, coach, learn and grow throughout the year,” adding that the system “helps set clear expectations and gives employees regular feedback.”

Google says a new system will result in higher wages, but workers say the overhaul has created more room for ambiguity in ratings at a time when the company is looking to cut costs.

The overhaul plan ran into problems. The company has decided to stop using Betterworks, a program that supposedly helps with performance reviews, employees told CNBC. Executives said they planned to use a self-development tool instead, but the change came uncomfortably close to the expected year-end performance tests.

A guide titled “Register for Support,” which is performance reviews targeted at certain employees, began appearing on internal forums. who received the rating, “current performance trajectory is towards or has been in, a lower rating.”

Three steps are recommended for registration. The first instructs workers to “breathe,” before receiving feedback from the manager. The second is “understanding feedback” and the third is “laying a plan”. The document says the subscription can affect 10% to 20% of employees over the course of a year.

Add it all up, and the big question that employees are asking is — will a series of small cuts turn into something bigger in the future?

CNBC reported last month that employees and executives conflict on the topic of cutting back on things like swag, travel, and holiday celebrations. Workers complain about a lack of transparency around travel cuts and ask why the company isn’t saving money by cutting executives’ salaries.

Google’s engineering leaders recently began restricting employees’ ability to access links to an internal meme generator called Memegen, an archive of longstanding user-generated memes. has become part of the company’s open culture.

Last month, Google’s vice president of corporate engineering said employees need to remove the Memegen link from their profile page, internally known as “Moma”. .”

Workers flocked to Memegen spontaneously to mock the decision.

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