Google parent Alphabet reportedly plans to identify and lay off up to 10,000 “underperforming” employees. An investor previously called for job cuts. To cut costs, Google is now planning to introduce a performance ranking system.
Google has been one of the few major tech companies not to make extensive job cuts. While Amazon, Meta, Twitter and Co. sent thousands of employees out the door, the Alphabet subsidiary has so far evaded the wave of layoffs.
However, as the business magazine Forbes reports, a mass layoff is now also imminent at Google. Due to pressure from a hedge fund manager, the current economic crisis and the need to reduce costs, up to 10,000 employees are threatened with dismissal.
Google wants to identify “low-performing” employees
The company also plans to introduce a performance improvement ranking system that will identify “low-performing” employees. Employees who receive a negative rating could in turn be fired.
According to Forbes, Alphabet has asked Google executives to rank six percent of its workforce – equivalent to about 10,000 employees – accordingly. Previously, the company had traditionally always identified two percent of the lowest-performing employees.
Alphabet: Investor calls for layoffs
Google investor Christopher Hohn reportedly previously drafted a letter to Alphabet claiming that the company was paying its employees too much. The British billionaire and hedge fund manager therefore called for a reduction in the “bloated workforce.”
Alphabet currently employs around 187,000 people. However, with a share of 20 percent, the hiring numbers seem to be out of control. At least that is the opinion of investor Hohn, who describes the company’s personnel policy as “excessive”. The search engine giant could be run efficiently with far fewer employees.
