Google will slow hiring for remainder of 2022: memo

Google will slow hiring through the rest of the year amid economic setbacks, parent company Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told employees on Tuesday, highlighting that "the uncertain global economic outlook has been top of mind."

Pichai wrote in an email to employees that Google would be "slowing the pace of hiring for the rest of the year, while still supporting our most important opportunities. For the balance of 2022 and 2023, the company will focus on hiring in engineering, technical and other critical roles."

The tech company had hired about 10,000 workers in the second quarter, and more are slated to start this quarter, according to Pichai's email.

Alphabet shares have dipped 21% so far in 2022 and the company missed analyst estimates for the first quarter. Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat has cautioned that the tech giant could be headed for another rough patch. 

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The company saw its growth in the first quarter slow to 23% from last year. This, compared to the 34% growth in the first three months of 2021 as the economy was reopening after a year of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Like all companies, we’re not immune to economic headwinds," Pichai wrote. "We need to be more entrepreneurial working with greater urgency, sharper focus, and more hunger than we’ve shown on sunnier days."

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Google is just the latest tech company to scale back hiring or cut staff from its payroll. Lyft announced in May it would slow hiring. Instacart later said it would roll back growth and Microsoft announced this week a small cutback on jobs. Tesla revealed it would cut its salaried staff by 10% and Meta Platforms said it would reduce hiring over economic concerns. 

The search engine giant has historically been heavily invested in research and development, but will now be more selective about where its funds go as it grapples with economic struggles.

"In some cases, that means consolidating where investments overlap and streamlining processes," Pichai wrote, adding that other instances would consist of "pausing development and re-deploying resources to higher priority areas."

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Pichai concluded his memo by saying that "scarcity breeds clarity" and that he is "excited for us to rise to the moment again."

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The Wall Street Journal contributed to this report.