Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a letter to his employees said that he is proud of the way Google has handled the coronavirus crisis but also said that it is time for the company to consider its hiring pace. He said that the company hired 20,000 Googlers in 2019 and had plans to hire a similar number this year too. Pichai said that Google is now taking a more "critical look at the pace of hiring".
Pichai's letter, accessed by Bloomberg, comes amid a revaluation by tech giants of their operations and costs. Pichai said that amid the restrictions and pressure felt due to the coronavirus spread, Google is "facing delays in getting everyone their essential equipment, such as laptops and security keys".
"We believe now is the time to significantly slow down the pace of hiring, while maintaining momentum in a small number of strategic areas where users and businesses rely on Google for ongoing support, and where our growth is critical to their success. By dialing back our plans in other areas, we can ensure Google emerges from this year at a more appropriate size and scale than we would otherwise. That means we need to carefully prioritize hiring employees who will address our greatest user and business needs," stated Pichai in his letter.
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He added that Google will continue to invest and recalibrate the focus and pace of their investments in areas such as data centres and machines, and non business essential marketing and travel.
Pichai stated that one takeaway from the 2008 financial crisis has been to prepare early to brave the storm. "We're only a quarter of the way through 2020, and it's already been the most unusual year in memory. None of us could have predicted that most of us would now be working from home during the biggest global pandemic of our lifetimes," he said.
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