Don't equate fun with money: Pichai tells staff in heated all-hands meet

He talked about the vexed issue of cost cuts, and indicated Google's culture could still be enjoyable, even if some things were taken away

After reporting the second consecutive quarter of weaker-than-expected earnings, Google is now finding itself in uncharted territories of cost cuts and staffers complaining about the same. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai was faced with tough questions from employees related to cuts to travel and entertainment budgets, managing productivity, and potential layoffs, according to a CNBC report.

Pichai was asked at a companywide all-hands meeting last week why the company was “nickel-and-diming employees” by slashing travel and promotional products’ budgets at a time when “Google has record profits and huge cash reserves,” as it did coming out of the Covid pandemic, the