Why Google CEO Sundar Pichai says some employees have to share a desk and an office
After laying off 12,000 employees globally in January 2023, Google has reportedly asked some of its employees to share desks with a few colleagues due to financial concerns.
According to an exclusive report by CNBC, CEO Sundar Pichai justified the company’s new desk-sharing policy by describing some of the company’s offices as practically empty and reminding employees of the high cost of real estate.
“It’s clear to me that they’re trying to be efficient and save money, but at the same time also make use of resources. Otherwise, there are people who routinely complain that they come in and there’s big rows of empty desks and it feels like a ghost town, it’s just not a nice experience,” Pichai said at a company-wide meeting last week.
According to the report, Pichai stated that many people come to the office only two days a week, which he said makes the current space an inefficient use.
“We must be good stewards of financial resources. We have expensive properties. And if they’re only used 30 percent of the time, we have to be careful about that,” Google’s CEO said.
Meanwhile, after India, Google is laying off workers who have reached management positions and high-paid employees in China as part of a global announcement. The company’s goal is to “restore wage levels and lower operating costs while improving overall work efficiency,” Pandaily reported.
Compensation includes a stock and annual leave discount, as well as 30,000 yuan ($4,339) in cash and health insurance, and these benefits can only be obtained by signing a severance agreement before March 10, the report said. The search giant also calls the reduction Cloud Office Evolution or CLOE.
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