Google boss warns employees of insufficient productivity, tells them to pick up the slack

As the economic downturn continues to force Silicon Valley to fire employees, Google has warned its employees to put in extra effort in their jobs. Days after the company said it will slow hiring for this year, as well as next year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a meeting with executives and employees said that the company’s productivity is not turning out in line with the targets, especially if you factor in the company’s current headcount.

“There are real concerns that our productivity as a whole is not where it needs to be for the headcount we have,” Pichai told employees last week, per a CNBC report.

Pichai said productivity has tanked and the most feasible solution to that is more focus and efficiency in work. To ensure that, workers need to help pitch in by creating a culture “that is more mission-focused, more focused on our products, more customer focused.” He reportedly added, “We should think about how we can minimise distractions and really raise the bar on both product excellence and productivity.”

Slow hiring

The aggressive push toward stricter shifts comes close on the heels of Google’s decision to cool down the hiring process in the company. Amid the economic contraction globally, which has impacted the tech industry the most, Google is embracing itself for the worst. While not stated explicitly, Google employees are concerned there may be potential layoffs on the card as the company tries to maximise productivity.

Pichai’s last month’s internal memo about the slowdown in the hiring process also highlighted that the company would need to become “more entrepreneurial” and work with “greater urgency, sharper focus, and more hunger than we’ve shown on sunnier days.”

According to CNBC, Pichai has launched a new initiative. This initiative intends to facilitate employee feedback and encourage them to bring new ideas to the table as a part of an exercise to instil entrepreneurship at the company. It will be like a survey that seeks employee input on how to increase efficiency and productivity, as well as create a company culture more focused on common growth goals.

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