close
close

Google CEO Sundar Pichai says the company has cut manager and vice president positions by 10%

Posted on by Taylor Reeves
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says the company has cut manager and vice president positions by 10%

  • Sundar Pichai said Google has cut the positions of managers, directors and vice presidents by 10% as part of an efficiency drive.
  • Google has tried to increase efficiency by reducing levels and reorganizing teams.
  • The company faced challenges from OpenAI and other AI competitors.

Google has reduced the number of top management positions by 10% as part of its years-long push for efficiency, CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in an in-person meeting on Wednesday.

Pichai said Google has made changes in recent years to simplify the company and make it more efficient, according to two employees who heard the remarks. Both people requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press.

Pichai said the efficiency improvements included a 10% reduction in managers, directors and vice presidents, a source said.

A Google spokesperson said some of those roles had been converted to non-managerial positions, while others had been eliminated entirely.

The company has been on the road to efficiency for more than two years. In September 2022, Pichai said he wanted to make Google 20% more efficient, and the following January the company underwent a historic round of layoffs, cutting 12,000 jobs.

The efficiency boost coincided with the launch of new products by AI competitors like OpenAI that threaten Google’s search business.

Google has responded by integrating generative AI capabilities into its core businesses and launching a range of new AI features, such as a new AI video generator that outperforms OpenAIs in early testing and a new range of Gemini models, including a “reasoning” model that shows his thought process.

At Wednesday’s plenary meeting, Pichai also clarified the meaning of the word “Googleyness” and told employees that the word needed to be updated for a modern Google.

Are you a current or former Google employee with something you want to tell us? You can reach reporter Hugh Langley on the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-628-228-1836) or by email ([email protected]).