August 29, 2025 – According to a CNBC report today, during an all-hands meeting, Brian Welle, Google’s Vice President of People Analytics and Performance, revealed that the company has slashed the number of small team leaders by over a third within a year.
“The number of our supervisors has dropped by 35% compared to a year ago. Moreover, each supervisor now directly oversees fewer employees, and this change has happened at a fast pace,” Welle stated.
During the meeting, some employees raised concerns with Welle and other executives regarding job security, internal organizational barriers, and Google’s corporate culture. Their worries mainly stemmed from the recent wave of layoffs, voluntary exit programs, and organizational restructuring at the company.
In response, Welle said, “We expect the proportion of managers, directors, and vice – presidents among the overall workforce to decrease year by year.”
Sources familiar with the matter added that the 35% reduction in supervisory positions was mainly targeted at leaders managing teams of three or fewer people. After adjusting to the changes, these former supervisors can remain at the company as regular employees.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai reiterated at the meeting that the company needs to expand more efficiently. “We can’t rely solely on adding more staff to solve all problems,” he said.
Notably, Google executives also disclosed that this year, in the U.S. market, they have introduced voluntary exit programs (VEP) to 10 product departments within the search, marketing, hardware, and human resources teams.
Fiona Cicconi, Google’s Head of Human Resources, mentioned that around 3 – 5% of employees have accepted the voluntary exit program. She considered the program quite successful and suggested it could be continued.
“Many employees who took the voluntary exit program want to take a break from the workplace for a while. Quite a few of them aim to have a career hiatus, and some need to take care of their families,” she added.
Another employee inquired whether Google would follow in Meta’s footsteps and offer additional vacation time (a one – month paid leave for employees who have worked for five years).
Alexandra Maddison, Google’s Senior Director of Benefits, responded, “Google already offers a variety of vacation benefits. The company won’t provide extra paid leave. We are very confident in our existing benefits, and our current vacation policies are highly competitive.”
