If the Google boss doesn’t tackle the group’s problems with determination now, things are likely to get tight for him.
(Photo: Reuters)
Things are not going well for the world’s largest search engine operator, Google. Parent company Alphabet loses more than $100 billion in stock market value in a matter of days. Google reacted to a search engine from rival Microsoft that had been expanded by AI functions with a completely botched presentation. But not only in competition with Microsoft does Google present a sad picture.
Even the biggest wave of layoffs in the company’s history is chaotic. 12,000 jobs or six percent of the workforce will be cut. This has never happened before in the company’s history. But the problem is not the number, but how the reduction is implemented. Important specialists from many teams were shown the door overnight. They lost access to all systems. Handovers were hardly possible.
CEO Sundar Pichai is in distress. And if he doesn’t tackle the problems with determination now, it’s likely to get tight for him.
Alphabet layoffs cost billions
Yes, other tech companies such as Microsoft or the Facebook group Meta have also cut thousands of jobs, but organized the process much better. Even Meta, which was regarded as a much worse employer in the Valley than Google, had built in transition phases for employees who had been laid off, so that agreements were still possible.
Alphabet puts the cost of the layoffs at $1.9 billion to $2.3 billion. This number is probably underestimated because it mainly relates to severance packages and immediate costs.
The operational consequences of the expulsion of important specialists are much worse. The atmosphere in the group is tense and the company’s image is damaged. This will also make it more difficult to recruit new specialists in the future.
>> Read also: Microsoft attacks Google’s core business
The second major weakness is Pichai’s misperception of Google’s role in Internet search. He had rested on his laurels. Google search is now overloaded with advertising.
At the same time, Google developed the technological foundations that Microsoft uses today for its improved AI search. But Google itself has not brought the technologies to market. What the group recently presented under the name “Bard” still seems to be a long way from being suitable for the masses. Microsoft is much further.
Google has risen to become the most powerful provider of Internet searches thanks to good products and leading technologies. Under Pichai, the group gambled away some of its achievements. If he doesn’t manage to change course, he’s no longer the right man to head the company.
More: This chatbot would pass an MBA exam – This is how Microsoft’s billion-dollar hope ChatGPT works.