Google reduced managers who oversee small teams by 35% over the past year as part of wider efforts to cut managerial, director, and vice president roles. The company previously trimmed manager, director, and VP positions by 10% in December. The reductions included elimination of a combined engineering tech-lead/manager role, with many affected employees moving into other positions within the company. Google is simultaneously encouraging employees to integrate AI into daily workflows, with an estimated 10% productivity boost from engineers using AI. Other major technology companies have pursued similar flattening to accelerate decision-making and improve efficiency.
In an all-hands meeting held last week, Brian Welle, vice president of people analytics and performance, said the changes were part of an effort to reduce managerial and director roles overall at Google, the person said. Welle's comments referred to managers of teams with three employees or fewer, according to a person familiar with the matter. CNBC reported earlier on the remarks.
Google leaders have been hacking away at management layers for well over a year. In December, Google told staff that it had cut manager, director, and VP roles by 10%, Business Insider previously reported. Google isn't the only Big Tech company that has been flattening its structure for efficiency. Microsoft, Amazon, Intel, and Meta have also made similar moves, eliminating middle manager jobs to speed up internal decisions and move faster.
Google leaders aren't just cutting back on management roles as a way to make the company more efficient. Googlers are increasingly being pushed to use AI as part of their day-to-day jobs, in the hope it will make them more productive. CEO Sundar Pichai said earlier this year that Google estimated a 10% boost in productivity gains from engineers using AI.
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