‘Google Employees Alarmed That the Company Suddenly Expects Them to Do Work’

Maggie Harrison, writing for The Byte last month:

The company is clearly pushing its workers to increase productivity. In an all-hands meeting a few weeks ago — shortly after disappointing quarterly earnings were announced — CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly told employees that “there are real concerns that our productivity as a whole is not where it needs to be for the head count we have,” and “we should think about how we can minimize distractions and really raise the bar on both product excellence and productivity.”

While Google has yet to announce any workforce cuts, its Googlers are worried that performance ratings might inform any pending layoff announcements. And considering that a screenshot obtained by Insider reportedly showed a manager explaining that if next quarter sales “don’t look up, there will be blood on the streets,” those fears, uh, definitely check out.

Month-old story, but I hadn’t seen it until today. Just as a quick “does this ring true?” check: When’s the last time Google came out with a major new product or update to an existing product? From a consumer perspective, it really does seem to me that they’ve stagnated.

★ Monday, 12 September 2022