Google CEO prepares for the coming macro economic storm
The tech giant aims at a 20% productivity increase, which might translate into layoffs
In the Code Conference that took place in Los Angeles, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and its parent Alphabet, noted that the company braces itself for worsening economic conditions.
Due to the fact that one of key Google’s revenue streams is its ad business that relies heavily on cyclical, economy-dependent ad spending, the CEO attempts to hedge against any future storms by attempting to increase the company’s productivity by a fifth.
During the pandemic, Google was one of the rare companies that undertook a massive hiring spree, which has resulted in a slower performance in the company. The data reveals that Google’s workforce was 118,988 in 2019, swelled to 156,500 in 2021 and is now up to 174,000.
In July the company finally slowed down, beginning the Simplicity Sprint initiative, where it asked its employees to come up with ideas to increase their productivity.
These statements come against the backdrop of Google’s second quarter earnings announcements that, while being 13% higher than the previous year at $69.69 billion, still fell slightly short of investors’ expectations.
