While Google carries out the largest downsizing in its history by laying off around 12,000 employees accounting for about 6 percent of the workforce, hedge fund billionaire Christopher Hohn advised Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai to reduce the company's total headcount to 1,50,000 to "right size" the company's cost base.

Share Market Live

NSE

In a now-viral letter, Hohn on one hand acknowledged that it is never an easy decision to let people go, while on the other hand, he told Pichai that Alphabet (Google's parent company) has more employees than required and that the workforce must be reduced by 20 percent.

Also Read | Google layoffs: Heartbreaking stories of a mother-to-be and people who were with the company for decades

"I am encouraged to see that you are now taking some action to right size Alphabet's cost base and understand that it is never an easy decision to let people go," Christopher Hohn wrote to Sundar Pichai.

What a nice guy

(His net worth is $7.9B) pic.twitter.com/DdudPTQTan— Peter Yang (@petergyang) January 23, 2023

"The decision to cut 12,000 jobs is a step in the right direction, but it does not even reverse the very strong headcount growth of 2022. Ultimately, the management will need to go further.... I believe the management should aim to reduce headcount to around 150,000, which is in line with Alphabet's headcount at the end of 2021. This would require a total headcount reduction in the order of 20 percent."

Also Read: Sundar Pichai says sorry as Google parent Alphabet begins firing 12,000 workers globally

First Published:Jan 24, 2023 4:18 PM IST