Why Google CEO Sundar Pichai Says Some Employees Have To Share Desks, Offices

After laying off its 12,000 workers globally in January 2023, Google is reportedly asking some of its employees to share desks with a few colleagues because of financial issues.

According to an exclusive report from CNBC, CEO Sundar Pichai justified the company’s new desk-sharing policy, describing some of the company’s offices as practically empty and reminding staffers that real estate is pricey.

“To me it’s obvious that they are trying to be efficient and save money but at the same time also utilize resources. There are people, by the way, who routinely complain that they come in and there are big swaths of empty desks and it feels like it’s a ghost town, it’s just not a nice experience,” said Pichai in a companywide meeting last week.

As per the report, Pichai indicated there are many people coming to the office only two days a week which he said makes for inefficient use of current space.

“We should be good stewards of financial resources. We have expensive real estate. And if they’re only utilized 30 per cent of the time, we have to be careful in how we think about it,” Google CEO said.

Meanwhile, after India, Google is now laying off employees in China that have hit senior positions and high-paying workers as part of the global announcement. The aim of the company is to “reset the salary standard and reduce operating costs while improving overall work efficiency, reports Pandaily.

The compensations include stock and annual leave discount and 30,000 yuan ($4,339) in cash and medical insurance, and these benefits can only be obtained by signing the agreement of leaving the company before March 10, the report noted. The search giant is also calling the downsizing effort Cloud Office Evolution, or CLOE.

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