Forget Money, Just Have Fun At Work: Google CEO Sundar Pichai

Following the company's decision to cut the employees' entertainment and travel budgets, Google CEO Sundar Pichai was the target of stern questioning during a recent all-hands meeting. In response, he stated that employees shouldn't equate having pleasure at work with having benefits and money.

After posting weaker-than-expected results for the second consecutive quarter, Google drastically reduced the funding allocated for employee travel and entertainment. Employees have shown dissatisfaction with the shift by recently asking CEO Sundar Pichai for comments on managing productivity, the company's austerity measures regarding the leisure budget, as well as layoffs.

Employees have reportedly heard Pichai's message that money and perks aren't everything and that they should focus on having fun at work rather than worrying about having to reduce back on employee benefits and the budget for the recession.

Pichai was questioned by employees about cost-cutting during an all-hands meeting last week, according to a news agency. Google employees asked Pichai a highly-rated question about why the company was "nickel-and-diming" employees by cutting travel and other budgets when "Google has record profits and huge cash reserves" coming out of the Covid pandemic. Questions are submitted and then rated by fellow participants in such meetings.

In response to the query, Pichai urged the employees to stick together in the face of such macroeconomic challenges.  "How do I say it? Look, I hope all of you are reading the news, externally. The fact that you know, we are being a bit more responsible through one of the toughest macroeconomic conditions underway in the past decade, I think it's important that as a company, we pull together to get through moments like this," Pichai says.