Sundar Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg believe Big Tech has too many employees who are chilling instead of working

It seems that good times are ending in Silicon Valley. In the last two weeks, two of the most powerful tech CEOs — Mark Zuckerberg at Meta (formerly Facebook) and Sundar Pichai at Google — have highlighted that tech companies probably have way too many employees, so many that there are people in these companies who are not working and are just chilling. While Pichai said this in a subtle way, by bringing a point about low productivity per employee at the company, Zuckerberg was direct and blunt. He said recently, there are a “bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here.”

The comments from Pichai and Zuckerberg come at a time when Silicon Valley companies are tightening their purse. And it came during Pichai and Zuckerberg’s interaction with their employees, suggesting that their comments are a warning to employees who are probably too focussed on taking it easy.

The comments are also likely a hint that the tide is turning in Silicon Valley. Tech companies are well-known for pampering and showering love on their employees, something that makes Google, Facebook and other big tech companies one of the best places to work. But it seems that freebies might come to an end soon.

The first wave of shock came from Zuckerberg last month when he reportedly decided to cancel extra vacation days for employees introduced during the peak pandemic. He even went ahead to say during his June 30 internal call (via The Verge) that there are a “bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here”. It is also reported that he’s “okay” if workers think they don’t belong at Meta.

“And part of my hope by raising expectations and having more aggressive goals, and just kind of turning up the heat a little bit, is that I think some of you might just say that this place isn’t for you. And that self-selection is okay with me,” he added.

A few days later, Google CEO Sundar Pichai indirectly echoed Zuckerberg’s sentiments during a meeting with workers. He believes that productivity is missing, and it is not where it should be considering the number of people Google has.

Pichai added, “There are real concerns that our productivity as a whole is not where it needs to be for the head count we have. [We need to] create a culture that is more mission-focused, more focused on our products, more customer-focused”.

Cause of concern?

Both Meta and Google are currently facing heat from investors amid a global economic slowdown. American and European companies are particularly struggling due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Facebook parent Meta, for instance, posted its first-ever revenue drop in the June 2022 quarter (Q2 2022). The company further predicts a drop in revenue in the September 2022 quarter (Q3 2022).

On the other hand, Google did not particularly project a drop in revenue, but it missed estimates significantly. Sales from Google’s core advertising business hit $56 billion in the last quarter. This marks 11.6 per cent growth year-over-year, but it’s a significant slowdown in growth rate from the same quarter last year, which was at nearly 69 per cent.

Pichai and Zuckerberg have also frozen hiring for the rest of the year, and both have indicated possible lay-offs if situations don’t improve.

Blame companies instead of workers?

One important thing to note here is that it is not the fault of tech employees if they are getting freebies and a work environment that is probably among the best one can get in the world. At the end of the day, tech companies need their employees, and they possibly need them around and hands on.

It has been documented that the freebies and perks are not exactly a gift from the tech companies. That free lunch at Google has a hidden cost for those who take it.

Writer and journalist Dan Lyons in 2018 wrote a book titled, How Silicon Valley Made Work Miserable for the Rest of Us. He indicated by offering perks, tech companies actually make their employees work longer hours and with less work-life balance. The feeling will be familiar to all of us who have recently worked from home because often WFH meant working without a break or fixed hours.

This is probably the reason Dan Lyons said in an interview that tech companies are not “just being good for the sake of being nice. It’s actually good business.”

Now that the era of freebies is coming to an end, as indicated by Pichai and Zuckerberg, it will be interesting to see how it impacts employees and the prevailing work culture in Silicon Valley.

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