Google cut manager and VP roles by 10% in its efficiency push, CEO Sundar Pichai said in an internal meeting

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. 

Google has cut its number of top management roles by 10% in its yearslong push for efficiency, CEO Sundar Pichai told employees Wednesday in an all-hands meeting.

Pichai said Google had made changes over the past couple of years designed to simplify the company and make it more efficient, according to two employees who heard the remarks. Both people requested anonymity because they’re not authorized to talk to the press.

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

A Google spokesperson said some of those roles were changed to nonmanagerial positions while others were eliminated entirely.

The company has been on an efficiency drive for more than two years. In September 2022, Pichai said he wanted Google to be 20% more efficient, and the following January the company had a historic round of layoffs that saw 12,000 roles eliminated.

The efficiency push has coincided with AI rivals such as OpenAI unleashing new products that threaten Google’s search business.

Google has responded by injecting generative-AI features into its core businesses and launching a flurry of new AI features, such as a new AI video generator beating OpenAI’s in early testing and a new set of Gemini models, including a “reasoning” model that shows its thought process.

In Wednesday’s all-hands meeting, Pichai also clarified the meaning of the word “Googleyness,” telling staffers that the word needed updating for a modern Google.