The company executive announced a new initiative that will gather employee feedback on efficiency.
On Wednesday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced to employees that the company was launching "Simplicity Sprint," a new effort that will gather ideas from its employees on how to focus and improve efficiency. Google's more than 174,000 employees will now have a chance to personally provide input in the midst of the uncertain economy.
CNBC reported that during Wednesday's regular all-hands, executives had an urgent tone as employees expressed concern over news of layoffs. Pichai then asked workers for input, as reported by attendees and related internal documentation.
During the meeting, Pichai said that while Google's productivity as a company was where it needed to be despite its headcount, he wanted to provide "additional context" after its dismal Q2 earnings results on Tuesday and ask for their input as well as the company faces economic uncertainty.
Sundar Pichai Wants Employees to Be 'More Mission-Focused'
During Wednesday's meeting following the Q2 earnings report, Pichai said that there were concerns over Google's productivity. To address this, he wanted to create a company culture that was "more mission-focused, product-focused, and customer-focused" while eliminating distractions in order to elevate both product excellence and productivity.
These concerns come after Google's parent company Alphabet reported decreased profits for the second quarter in a row, The Verge reported. Despite bringing in more money, Alphabet reported $16 billion in profit during its second quarter of 2022, a decrease from the company's $18.5 billion during the same period last year.
Rising expenses have played a part in Alphabet's decreasing profits, as the company brought in more revenue than it did during last year's same period. The company reported a revenue of almost $69.7 billion, an increase from last year's $61.9 billion. But Google has been spending about $3 billion more on research and development, as well as sales and marketing.
'Simplicity Sprint' as a Solution
Now, not only is Google slowing down hiring and investments beginning now through 2023, it is also enlisting the help of its employees to gather ideas for more efficient product development through the "Simplicity Sprint" initiative. The effort will see employees participating in an internal survey that will run through August 15, which asks if Google management could reach out for follow-up questions.
Pichai said that "Simplicity Sprint" is an effort to achieve better results in less time. The survey will ask employees on how they could work with increased clarity and efficiency, where speed bumps must be removed to ensure better results faster, and how to eliminate waste and "stay entrepreneurial and focused" as the company grows.
The survey also comes at a time when Google is trying to relieve tensions between employees and executives. A recent annual "Googlegeist" survey revealed that employees gave a low rating on pay, promotions and execution. Google announced in May that it would redesign its performance evaluation process, which would spark better results in increased salaries while reducing bureaucracy regarding compensations and pay raises.
