In brief: Google and Microsoft are following in the footsteps of other large tech companies by streamlining their businesses. In the case of Google, it will be slowing down hiring as it looks to be more entrepreneurial. Microsoft, meanwhile, is cutting jobs, though it will also keep hiring staff in other roles.
Insider, citing two senior Google employees, reports that Google managers were informed of the company's hiring slowdown last month. They were instructed by leaders to give back a percentage of their headcount grants for the third quarter.
CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly sent an email to employees confirming the hiring reductions. "Moving forward, we need to be more entrepreneurial, working with greater urgency, sharper focus, and more hunger than we've shown on sunnier days," he wrote. Google hired 10,000 people in Q2 2022, up 17% year-on-year.
"In some cases, that means consolidating where investments overlap and streamlining processes. In other cases, that means pausing deployment and re-deploying resources to higher priority areas," Pichai continued.
The Google boss pointed toward an "uncertain global economic outlook" for the decision, not unlike Elon Musk's "super bad feeling" about the economy last month that prompted him to pause all Tesla hiring and cut 10% of the EV maker's jobs.
Microsoft is also doing some reorganizing. Bloomberg reports it is laying off a small portion of its workforce, less than 1% of its 180,000 employees, from groups including consulting and customer and partner solutions. The cuts will cover jobs from around the world.
"Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly," Microsoft said in an emailed statement. However, the company stressed that it would still be hiring in other areas and increase its overall headcount in the coming year. It also claimed that the layoffs haven't come about due to the shaky economic outlook, though it did slow hiring in its Windows and Office groups back in May.