Google CEO Tells Employees Productivity and Focus Must Improve
The Alphabet company had its regular all-hands meeting last Wednesday, and the tone was somewhat urgent as employees expressed concern over layoffs and CEO Sundar Pichai asked employees for input, according to attendees and related internal documentation viewed by CNBC. Google's productivity as a company isn't where it needs to be even with the head count it has, Pichai told employees in the meeting. "I wanted to give some additional context following our earnings results, and ask for your help as well," Pichai opened, referring to the company's second-quarter earnings report Tuesday. "It's clear we are facing a challenging macro environment with more uncertainty ahead." He added, "There are real concerns that our productivity as a whole is not where it needs to be for the head count we have." He asked employees to help "create a culture that is more mission-focused, more focused on our products, more customer focused. We should think about how we can minimize distractions and really raise the bar on both product excellence and productivity."