"Difficult to predict the future," Google CEO Sundar Pichai

Google appears to be the next big tech giant planning a mass layoff after rivals like Amazon, Meta, and Twitter laid off thousands of employees to save operating costs due to uncertain macroeconomic conditions. It was reported last week that Google's parent company, Alphabet, would lay off nearly 10,000 employees in the coming weeks. However, things at Google became tenser after a general meeting last week.

According to Business Insider, CEO Sundar Pichai hinted at layoffs soon, telling employees it's "difficult to predict the future." He further added that he cannot make "prospective commitments" on the same.

This isn't the first time Google has hinted at a possible layoff, as CEO Sundar Pichai wanted employees to be more efficient by the end of 2022. He even stopped unnecessary hiring, except for critical roles. At the time, Pichai tried to motivate employees by telling them that they shouldn't equate work with money and should have fun. However, Google employees are more concerned as the company reportedly plans to use a new performance tool called GRAD. The tool is meant to give "employees a more consistent feedback stream about their performance, but some within the company say it's off to a rocky start," the report notes.

Mass layoffs in Silicon Valley began with Twitter after the formal acquisition of Elon Musk in late October. It cut half of Twitter's workforce, prompting other tech giants to crack down on it as well. Both Amazon and Meta have laid off more than 20,000 employees combined. Some workers are also from India, desperately seeking new jobs in the US to maintain their H-1B visa status. Other companies like Adobe and Salesforce have also laid off staff. Companies like Byju's and Josh in India are not immune to a collapsing economy.