Google has made significant cuts to its managerial workforce, reducing it by 10% in a move aimed at streamlining operations and redefining its corporate culture. This reduction, part of a broader efficiency drive, impacts roles at the manager, director, and vice president levels.

Reports indicate that during an all-hands meeting, CEO Sundar Pichai outlined the rationale behind the decision, emphasizing the need for efficiency and redefining the company’s core values, often referred to as “Googleyness.”

A Google spokesperson revealed that some affected employees would transition to individual contributor roles, while others faced role eliminations. These adjustments come amidst growing challenges in the tech industry, particularly with rapid developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and fierce competition from rivals like OpenAI.

The AI race and Google’s response

The tech giant has recently intensified its focus on AI innovations, unveiling Gemini 2.0, its most advanced AI model yet. Sundar Pichai described the new model as heralding a “new agentic era” in which AI systems are designed to comprehend and make decisions about the world.

This announcement boosted Google’s stock, which surged by over 4% following the news, a day after a 3.5% increase attributed to breakthroughs in its quantum chip technology.

Previous layoffs in 2024

The latest layoffs mark Google’s fourth round of job cuts in 2024. Earlier in January, Google eliminated several hundred positions in its global advertisements team. In June, its cloud unit also saw workforce reductions. By January of this year, Google had already cut 12,000 roles, equivalent to 6.4% of its global workforce.

In a letter addressed to employees during the earlier layoffs, Pichai took responsibility for the decisions, stating that the company had experienced dramatic growth that required adjustments to sustain operations. Despite efforts, he acknowledged the process could have been managed better.

Redefining ‘Googleyness’

At the same meeting, Pichai stressed the need to revisit and reshape the concept of “Googleyness.” This term, often used to define the company’s unique culture and hiring philosophy, will now play a pivotal role in transforming corporate dynamics to adapt to new challenges.

The adjustments highlight Google’s commitment to staying competitive while reshaping its operational framework to remain aligned with its long-term vision.

The Kremlin today denied a US media report that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US president-elect Donald Trump had spoken on the phone last week about the Ukraine conflict.

Earlier on Sunday, The Washington Post reported that Donald Trump spoke to Vladimir Pution on call, urging him not to inflame the conflict. Speaking on the matter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media that the report was completely false information, and denied any phone call took place.

It was reported that US President-elect Donald Trump has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged him not to escalate the war in Ukraine. It said that Donald Trump held the call from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Thursday, just days after his stunning election victory over Democratic rival Kamala Harris. The report also mentioned that both the leaders expressed an interest in further conversations to discuss the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon.

Notably, Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he could end the fighting within hours and has indicated he would talk directly with Russian President Putin. However, the US President elect has not said how he intends to strike a peace deal or what terms he is proposing.

Donald Trump’s election is seen as carrying the potential to upend the almost three-year Ukraine conflict, as he insists on a quick end to the fighting and casts doubt on Washington’s multi-billion dollar support for Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Trump on Wednesday, with the Republican’s billionaire backer Elon Musk also notably joining them on the call. Volodymyr Zelensky described the call as excellent, adding that he and Trump had agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation.

Additionally, the outgoing Democratic administration of President Joe Biden has confirmed that it will send as much aid as possible to Ukraine before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the White House aims to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield so that it is ultimately in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.

A few hours after Australia Today aired External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s press conference in Australia, Canada banned the outlet. The External Affairs Minister gave remarks on the India-Canada diplomatic standoff. 

Reacting to this, India on Thursday said it was surprised by Canada’s move to ban the outlet and emphasized that it highlighted Ottawa’s hypocrisy towards freedom of speech. Australia Today, which is an important outlet for the Indian community in the country, had aired the joint press conference of S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra.

In a weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that they understand that the social media handles, pages of this particular outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada. He continued that this happened just an hour or a few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of S Jaishankar with Penny Wong. He called out the incident, mentioning that they are surprised, and the matter looks strange to them.

He further underlined that these are the actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech. He noted that the External Affairs Minister spoke about three things: Canada making allegations and a pattern had developed without any specific evidence, surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, which he termed as unacceptable, and  the political space which has been given in Canada to anti-India elements. 

With this one can draw conclusions, why Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada, the spokesperson said. Australia Today focuses on news and analytical pieces related to the Indian community in Australia and elsewhere across the world.

This incident follows days after devotees were attacked by pro-Khalistani at a Hindu temple in Canada’s Brampton, with S Jaishankar calling it deeply concerning. Furthermore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condemned the attack and said that there were cowardly attempts to intimidate Indian diplomats.

The diplomatic standoff between India and Canada began in September last year when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian government agents might have been involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a claim outrightly rejected by New Delhi.

Later in October 2024, ties between both the countries nosedived when Canada termed the Indian High Commissioner a person of interest in its investigation into Nijjar’s murder. Issuing a strongly worded statement, India dismissed the fresh charge and recalled the envoy and some diplomats, while expelling six Canadian officials, including Canada’s acting High Commissioner.