Google fired 35% of small-team managers last year: Report

ISTANBUL

US tech firm Google removed 35% of its managers overseeing small teams last year as the company continues to concentrate on organizational efficiency, according to a Google executive, CNBC reported Wednesday.

"Right now, we have 35% fewer managers, with fewer direct reports than at this time a year ago," said Brian Welle, vice president of people analytics and performance, during a meeting.

Following several recent rounds of layoffs, buyouts, and reorganizations, workers questioned Welle and other executives at the meeting about job security, "internal barriers," and Google's culture.

According to Welle, the goal is to run the firm more efficiently and cut down on bureaucracy.

“When we look across our entire leadership population, that’s managers, directors and VPs, we want them to be a smaller percentage of our overall workforce over time,” he said.

The 35% decrease in managers included those in charge of less than three people, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, said the firm must "be more efficient as we scale up so we don't solve everything with headcount."

In 2023, Google let off almost 6% of its employees, and since then, it has made layoffs across a number of businesses. In October, Anat Ashkenazi, the finance head of Alphabet, who joined the business last year, stated that she will pursue expense reductions "a little further."

Since January, Google has delayed recruiting and asked workers to do more with less, while also offering buyouts to current employees.

At the meeting last week, Google's chief people officer, Fiona Cicconi, stated that between 3% and 5% of the staff on those teams have taken the buyouts.

The process has been "actually quite successful," she said, adding: “I think we can continue it."