The possibility of layoffs was a great concern for Google employees during a company all-hands Thursday, but CEO Sundar Pichai wouldn’t rule out layoffs yet.
Leaders received multiple questions about layoffs during the meeting.
“It’s really tough to predict the future, so, unfortunately, I can’t honestly sit here and make forward-looking commitments,” Pichai said, according to a recording of the meeting reviewed by Insider.
He was addressing a question on whether Google would “cull” its workforce in 2023.
“What we’ve been trying hard to do, and you’ve seen the messaging for the past many, many months, is we are trying to make important decisions, be disciplined, prioritize where we can, rationalize where we can so that we are set up to better weather the storm, regardless of what’s ahead,” he added, saying: “I think that’s what we should focus on and try and do our best there.”
Some employees at Google have been nervous over the prospect of layoffs, which have hit other tech behemoths, such as Meta and Amazon. But Google has taken other steps to prepare for the sluggish economy, including a hiring freeze earlier in the year and several organizational changes.
