Alphabet CEO Tells Workers to Expect Slow Hiring

Google parent company Alphabet’s CEO Sundar Pichai told employees on Wednesday that the company will slow down hiring and other investments.

Pichai announced that Alphabet is re-evaluating investments for the remainder of 2020, starting with hiring as the coronavirus pandemic continues to loom over the world.

“We believe now is the time to significantly slow down the pace of hiring, while maintaining momentum in a small number of strategic areas where users and businesses rely on Google for ongoing support, and where our growth is critical to their success,” Pichai told workers in a memo first reported by Bloomberg.

“Beyond hiring, we continue to invest, but will be recalibrating the focus and pace of our investments in areas like data centers and machines, and non business essential marketing and travel,” he added.

“We’ll be slowing down the pace of hiring, while maintaining momentum in a small number of strategic areas, and onboarding the many people who’ve been hired but haven’t started yet,” the company said to CNBC.

Pichai revealed that Alphabet had added 20,000 employees in 2019 and had planned to do the same this year.

“Just like the 2008 financial crisis, the entire global economy is hurting, and Google and Alphabet are not immune to the effects of this global pandemic,” Pichai stated. “We exist in an ecosystem of partnerships and interconnected businesses, many of whom are feeling significant pain.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and have not been compensated for this article.