From Sundar Pichai To Satya Nadella: How Big Tech CEOs Justified Their Company's Mass Layoffs

18,000 in Amazon, 12,000 in Google¡¯s parent Alphabet and 11,000 in Microsoft & Meta each. These are the massive number of employees that are being laid off by some of the biggest companies around the globe.

Besides these giants, the news of layoffs has been coming almost everyday in the recent months, including companies such as Swiggy, HP, Zomato, Ford, Salesforce and many more.

shutterstock

But apart from announcing the severance package and other help to the affected employees, how have the CEOs of the biggest companies reacted to the mass layoffs happening in their firms?

From Google¡¯s Sundar Pichai, Meta¡¯s Mark Zuckerberg to Microsoft¡¯s Satya Nadella, let¡¯s take a look at how the CEOs of some of the biggest firms have reacted and/or what they conveyed regarding the mass layoffs:

1. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella - "Focusing On Our Short & Long-Term Opportunity"

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had shared this communication with Microsoft employees while announcing mass layoffs last week and the reason behind it.

cnbc/getty

"We¡¯re living through times of significant change. I¡¯m confident that Microsoft will emerge from this stronger and more competitive." He added " We will align our cost structure with our revenue and where we see customer demand. We are making changes that will result in the reduction of our overall workforce by 10,000 jobs through the end of FY23 Q3. This represents less than 5 percent of our total employee base, with some notifications happening today. It¡¯s important to note that while we are eliminating roles in some areas, we will continue to hire in key strategic areas. We know this is a challenging time for each person impacted. The senior leadership team and I are committed that as we go through this process, we will do so in the most thoughtful and transparent way possible.

We will treat our people with dignity and respect, and act transparently. These decisions are difficult, but necessary."

Also Read: This US Company's CEO Wants People To Be 'Happy' About Layoffs

2. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai - "We Hired For A Different Economic Reality"

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai had sent the following email to Google employees last week when it announced mass layoffs and the reason behind it.

entrepreneur.com

"I have some difficult news to share. We¡¯ve decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles. We¡¯ve already sent a separate email to employees in the US who are affected. In other countries, this process will take longer due to local laws and practices. This will mean saying goodbye to some incredibly talented people we worked hard to hire and have loved working with. I¡¯m deeply sorry for that. The fact that these changes will impact the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here."

"Over the past two years we¡¯ve seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.

I am confident about the huge opportunity in front of us thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI. To fully capture it, we¡¯ll need to make tough choices. So, we¡¯ve undertaken a rigorous review across product areas and functions to ensure that our people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company. The roles we¡¯re eliminating reflect the outcome of that review. They cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions."

"While this transition won¡¯t be easy, we¡¯re going to support employees as they look for their next opportunity.

As an almost 25-year-old company, we¡¯re bound to go through difficult economic cycles. These are important moments to sharpen our focus, reengineer our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities. Being constrained in some areas allows us to bet big on others. Pivoting the company to be AI-first years ago led to groundbreaking advances across our businesses and the whole industry.

Thanks to those early investments, Google¡¯s products are better than ever. And we¡¯re getting ready to share some entirely new experiences for users, developers and businesses, too. We have a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products and are prepared to approach it boldly and responsibly."

3. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy - "Most Difficult Decision Due To Economic Landscape & Rapid Hiring"

Reacting to Amazon's 18,000 layoffs, CEO Andy Jassy said "I've been in this role now for about a year and a half, and without a doubt, this is the most difficult decision we've made during that time (and, we've had to make some very tough calls over the past couple of years, particularly during the heart of the pandemic)."

bloomberg/getty

Seattle-based Amazon, which has been cutting costs in various areas of its business in the past few months, is undergoing an annual review process to figure out where it can save more money. Amazon CEO Jassy said this year's review is "more difficult" due to the economic landscape and the company's rapid hiring in the last several years.

4. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg - "Taking Steps To Become A Leaner & More Efficient Company"

Facebook parent Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg had shared this message with Meta employees in November 2022 while announcing the mass layoffs:

inc/getty

"I¡¯m sharing some of the most difficult changes we¡¯ve made in Meta¡¯s history. I¡¯ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go. We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1. I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I¡¯m especially sorry to those impacted."

5. Twitter's Former CEO Jack Dorsey - "Regret Growing The Company Too Quickly"

Jack Dorsey, Twitter¡¯s co-founder and former CEO had said that he regrets growing the company too quickly.

pbs.rorg

Amid the mass layoffs that new owner Elon Musk began at Twitter as soon as he took over in late October, Jack Dorsey tweeted "I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that."

I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter. I don't expect that to be mutual in this moment...or ever¡­and I understand. ?

¡ª jack (@jack) November 5, 2022

Besides these tech CEOs, here's how CEOs of some other organizations communicated about their company's mas layoffs.

6. Ford CEO Jim Farley - "We Have Too Many People¡±

Ford had announced in mid-2022 that it is likely to lay off around 8,000 employees. The move would mark a significant step in CEO Jim Farley's plan to cut $3 billion in costs by 2026. He has reportedly said he wants to transform Ford Blue into ¡°the profit and cash engine for the entire enterprise." In March 2022, CEO Farley radically restructured Ford, cleaving its carmaking in two by creating the "Model e" unit to scale up EV offerings and "Ford Blue" to focus on traditional gas burners like the Bronco sport utility vehicle.

Earlier at a Wolfe Research auto conference in February 2022, Ford CEO Farley had said "We have too many people.¡± He added, "This management team firmly believes that our ICE and BEV portfolios are under-earning."

Reuters

In March 2022, Ford CEO Farley boosted spending on EVS to $50 billion and set a plan to build 2 million battery electric vehicles annually by 2026, after selling just 27,140 in the US last year. Last month, Ford's EV sales reportedly rose 76.6% from a year earlier as it rolled out the hot new electric F-150 Lightning pickup.

7. Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety - "Poor Judgement Of Over-hiring"

Last week, online food delivery platform Swiggy announced that it is laying off 380 employees. CEO Sriharsha Majety cited ¡°challenging macroeconomic conditions¡± as one of the reasons for the job cuts.

prosus

In an email to employees, as per ET, he said the growth rate of the company¡¯s food delivery business has slowed down, which has resulted in lower profits and reduced income. Swiggy CEO said the company over-hired over the past two years, which was "a case of poor judgement" on his part and that he ¡°should¡¯ve done better here¡±

8. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek - "I Was Too Ambitious In Investing Ahead Of Our Revenue Growth"

Music streaming platform Spotify had announced this week that it will start laying off about 6% of its staff to lower costs in the current ¡°challenging economic environment".

¡°Like many other leaders, I hoped to sustain the strong tailwinds from the pandemic and believed that our broad global business and lower risk to the impact of a slowdown in ads would insulate us,¡± CEO Daniel Ek said in a note to employees.

afp/getty

¡°In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth. And for this reason, today, we are reducing our employee base by about 6% across the company. I take full accountability for the moves that got us here today,¡± he added.

For the latest and interesting financial news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here.