Google has announced a series of cost-cutting measures which include the removal of various employee benefits to prioritise its work in artificial intelligence (AI).
According to a memo that was sent to Google employees from the company’s CFO Ruth Porat and senior VP Prabhakar Raghavan, the company will cut back a number of perks including free snacks, laundry services and company lunches.
In addition, the tech giant will reduce the fitness classes available to workers and stop spending on personal equipment such as laptops. The company will also be slowing down its recruitment process.
“Because equipment is a significant expense for a company of our size, we’ll be able to save meaningfully here,” the memo reportedly said.
The memo further noted that the money that will be saved from cutting these employee benefits would be used to focus on higher-priority work.
The Google execs explained that the decision for the move was primarily due to economic strains and desires to prioritise AI development.
“This work is particularly vital because of our recent growth, the challenging economic environment, and our incredible investment opportunities to drive technology forward — particularly in AI,” the memo said.
Moreover, Google also said that it is focused on ensuring the efficient distribution of its compute workloads by “getting more out of our servers and data centres.” The company added that this is pertinent as infrastructure is one of its largest areas of investment.
Google’s decision to cut employee benefits and wind down costs comes after CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the company would be cutting around 12,000 employees globally.
