Since last year, there have been multiple layoffs in technology companies. As a technology giant, Google's parent company has also laid off many jobs. Last year alone, Google laid off over 12000 employees.

In addition to layoffs, Google has also reduced employee benefits such as free massages and the closure of free fitness centers. The company has even reduced the supply of food, and employee travel is only available for "critical business" applications.

In the face of the company's ongoing layoffs, Google and Alphabet CEOs Sundar Pichai recently stated in an interview that the company is "taking the time to do this right".

Pichai stated in an interview that Google is "reallocating" personnel to its "highest priority". And it stated that Google is simplifying its team and also mobilizing employees to focus on new areas. And in order to improve speed, Google is also completely removing some teams.

Pichai emphasized that as a leader of a large company, he makes "fewer significant decisions, but needs to be clear."

Google's layoffs and welfare cuts are essentially aimed at reducing costs and investing more funds in the development of artificial intelligence and cloud technology. This includes ARM based CPUs, full launch of TPU v5p, new versions of Gemini 1.5, and various updates from Google Workspace.

In order to align with the company's strategy, Google's layoff actions seem to be continuing. Recently, Google has laid off more than 200 employees from its Python, Fluttr, and Dart teams, and the engineering department of its office in Sunnyville, California has also laid off more than 50 positions. The continuous layoffs have made some employees fearful.

In this situation, Google's internal morale has significantly declined. Despite better than expected quarterly earnings, concerns still exist. At a plenary meeting held last week, employees raised concerns to executives such as CEO Pichai.

At the meeting, an employee asked, "How does the leadership plan to address these issues and regain the trust, morale, and cohesion that are crucial to our company's success?" Pichai responded by saying that the leadership bears a great responsibility and added that this is an iterative process.

During the previous pandemic, Google significantly expanded its workforce. As of the end of 2022, the number of full-time employees at Alphabet has increased to over 190000, an increase of nearly 22% year-on-year and 40% compared to the end of 2020. Pichai said, "We have hired a lot of employees and will start correcting direction from there."

At the meeting, the company paid close attention to the layoff process internally. Someone asked, "Given the recent number of employees and positive profits, what is the company's employee strategy?" Others asked, "Given strong performance, have we completed cost reductions?"

Pichai stated that the company is undergoing a "long-term corporate transformation period," which includes cutting expenses and "improving efficiency." For the latter point, he said, "We hope to do this forever."

Pichai said, "It needs to be clear that our company's expenses have increased this year, but we are slowing down the growth rate." "We see opportunities to reassign personnel and complete work."

Pichai revealed that the company will complete most of the layoffs in the first half of 2024. "The scale of the second half of the year will be much smaller," Pichai said. "The company will continue to manage the growth of employee numbers very, very strictly throughout the year."

Pichai said, "There is now a lot of demand to do new things, and in the past, we only met these needs by increasing the number of employees. Now we are in a period of transformation and cannot do so."