Google CEO says he hopes to make company '20% more' efficient, hints at potential cuts

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said helium wants to marque the institution 20% much businesslike and that could see headcount cuts arsenic it reckons with a slew of economical challenges arsenic good arsenic years of accelerated hiring.

Speaking astatine Code Conference successful Los Angeles, Pichai gave much details astir however he’s reasoning of making the institution tally much efficiently up of economical uncertainty and a broader slowdown successful advertisement spending, of which Google has been the largest beneficiary to date.

“The much we effort to recognize the macroeconomic, we consciousness precise uncertain astir it,” Pichai said connected signifier Tuesday. “The macroeconomic show is correlated to advertisement spend, user walk and truthful on," helium added.

While helium said helium views macroeconomic factors arsenic extracurricular of his control, Pichai acknowledged the institution has go "slower" aft its headcount ballooned.

"We privation to marque definite arsenic a company, erstwhile you person less resources than before, you are prioritizing each the close things to beryllium moving connected and your employees are truly productive that they tin really person interaction connected the things they’re moving connected truthful that's what we are spending our clip on."

Host Kara Swisher asked the CEO however helium planned to marque the institution much efficient, citing “Simplicity Sprint,” a caller interior task launched to re-focus the increasing institution and “get amended results faster” arsenic archetypal reported by CNBC successful July. While gross is inactive growing, the effort came aft the institution reported its 2nd consecutive 4th of weaker-than-expected net and revenue. 

However, anterior to that, employees aboriginal successful the twelvemonth had fixed the company's enactment peculiarly poor marks connected pay, promotions and execution, citing the company’s increasing bureaucracy, which executives acknowledged astatine the time. 

“Across everything we do, we tin beryllium slower to marque decisions,” Pichai said Tuesday. "You look astatine it end-to-end and figure retired however to marque the institution 20% much productive.”

Pichai besides gave much circumstantial examples of however helium hopes to bash that. He gave a past illustration of aligning YouTube Music and Google Play Music into 1 product.

“Sometimes determination are areas to marque advancement [where] you person 3 radical making decisions, knowing that and bringing it down to 2 oregon 1 improves ratio by 20%,” helium gave successful different example.

Host Kara Swisher pointed retired a communal word associated with Google employees moving astatine the institution for a agelong clip called “rest and vest,” which was depicted connected the six-season HBO fictional amusement
"Silicon Valley," which referred to a Google-like institution called Hooli.

Smiling, Pichai said helium ne'er watched the fashionable show. "Too adjacent to home,” helium remarked. “You ticker TV to relax."