Google townhall: Exec says Google has eliminated 35% of managers; these managers are those with ...

In a move to streamline its operations and also accelerate decision making, Google has reportedly cut a significant portion of its managerial staff. According to a report by CNBC, the tech giant has eliminated around 35% of its managers. The company announced this decision in a recent all-hands meeting with employees. Brian Welle , VP of People Analytics and Performance, explained that this move of the company is part of a broader push to reduce bureaucracy and streamline operations amid growing economic pressure and evolving business priorities.

From managers to individual contributors
As reported by CNBC, at the recent all-hands Townhall, Google’s Brian Welle revealed that the company has fired 35% of its managers over the past year. The report adds that eliminated managers include those overseeing less than three employees and the ones that were associated with the company has individual contributors.

“When we look across our entire leadership population, that’s mangers, directors and VPs, we want them to be a smaller percentage of our overall workforce over time,” said Welle.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai also echoed the same sentiment, emphasising on the need to scale without depending on the headcount. “We have to be more efficient as we scale up so we don’t solve everything with headcount,” he said, reinforcing the company’s shift toward leaner leadership structures.

What the company talked about in the Townhall
At the townhall, the company also discussed employee concert about job security and morale following multiple rounds of layoffs and voluntary buyouts. As per the CNBC report, the executives revealed that ten product areas including marketing, search, people operations and hardware had offered “Voluntary Exit Program” packages this year. Around 5% employees in the above mentioned divisions accepted the offers, giving personal reasons.

Google CEO said that the Voluntary Exit Program initiative was the result of employee feedback as may professionals preferred voluntary exits over blanket layoffs.