New york: US tech firm Google removed 35% of its managers overseeing small teams last year as the company continues to concentrate on organizational efficiency, according to a Google executive, CNBC reported Wednesday. "Right now, we have 35% fewer managers, with fewer direct reports than at this time a year ago," said Brian Welle, vice president of people analytics and performance, during a meeting.

According to Anadolu Agency, following several recent rounds of layoffs, buyouts, and reorganizations, workers questioned Welle and other executives at the meeting about job security, "internal barriers," and Google's culture. Welle explained that the goal is to run the firm more efficiently and cut down on bureaucracy. "When we look across our entire leadership population, that's managers, directors and VPs, we want them to be a smaller percentage of our overall workforce over time," he said. The 35% decrease in managers included those in charge of less than three people, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, emphasized the need for efficiency as the company continues to grow, stating that the firm must "be more efficient as we scale up so we don't solve everything with headcount." In 2023, Google let off nearly 6% of its employees and has since implemented layoffs across various businesses. In October, Anat Ashkenazi, the finance head of Alphabet, announced plans for further expense reductions.

Since January, Google has slowed hiring and encouraged employees to do more with less, while offering buyouts to current staff. During a recent meeting, Google's chief people officer, Fiona Cicconi, revealed that 3% to 5% of the staff on affected teams have accepted buyouts, describing the process as "actually quite successful" and suggesting it could continue in the future.