--- title: "Google Execs Say Employees Will Be Rewarded for Huge Profits With Fewer Layoffs" description: "Google employees have been pretty down as of late amid massive layoffs — but according to the company's C-suite, the beatings won't continue." date: "2024-05-10" modified: "2024-05-10" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-execs-profits-fewer-layoffs" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Future Society" - "Google" tags: - "Google" - "layoffs" - "sundar pichai" - "the digest" --- # Google Execs Say Employees Will Be Rewarded for Huge Profits With Fewer Layoffs ![Google employees have been pretty down as of late amid massive layoffs — but according to the company's C-suite, the beatings won't continue.]() *\Image: Alain Jocard / AFP via Getty / Futurism\* ## Questioning Power Google employees have been pretty down as of late amid massive layoffs — but according to the company's C-suite, [the beatings won't continue](). As [*CNBC* reports](), an all-hands meeting at Google's parent company Alphabet got contentious last week when staffers began asking executives why morale was so low despite record earnings that pushed the company's market cap [past $2 trillion](). "We’ve noticed a significant decline in morale, increased distrust, and a disconnect between leadership and the workforce," read one employee comment from an employee on the all-hands forum. "How does leadership plan to address these concerns and regain the trust, morale, and cohesion that have been foundational to our company’s success?" In another question, an employee asked why, "despite the company’s stellar performance and record earnings, many Googlers have not received meaningful compensation increases." "When will employee compensation fairly reflect the company’s success," the employee asked, "and is there a conscious decision to keep wages lower due to a cooling employment market?" With her feet to the fire, Alphabet chief financial officer Ruth Porat admitted that although the company currently has more than $100 billion in cash on hand, growth is still its main priority. "The problem is a couple of years ago — two years ago, to be precise — we actually got that upside down and expenses started growing faster than revenues," Porat said. "The problem with that is it’s not sustainable." ## Steady the Ship In an apparent course correction, Google began 2023 by [laying off a whopping 12,000 employees]() and has since done at least [three more rounds]() of [job cuts](), the latest of which coincided with [hiring for the same roles]() in cheaper international labor markets. It should come as no surprise, then, that morale is accordingly low. In his own comments during the forum, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai — who made, it should be noted, a [whopping $226 million in 2022](), the same year the company reportedly got its expense model upside down — insisted that Google is only now making up for over-hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Given the strong results," an employee asked him, "are we done with cost-cutting?" "We’re growing our expenses as a company this year, but we’re moderating our pace of growth" Pichai said. "We see opportunities where we can re-allocate people and get things done." "Assuming current conditions, the second half of the year will be much smaller in scale," the CEO said in reference to job cuts. In the meantime, Pichai said Google will be "very, very disciplined about managing headcount growth throughout the year." How that shakes out remains to be seen, but at this rate, nobody can blame employees for feeling the burn. **More on Google:** [*Google Appears to Have Partnered With the Company Behind Sports Illustrated’s Fake, AI-Generated Writers*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()