This is market virtue signaling. Some ascribe it to "copycat" behavior but I don't think the accurately captures the intent. Sundar is telling the market "we'r

This is market virtue signaling. Some ascribe it to "copycat" behavior but I don't think the accurately captures the intent. Sundar is telling the market "we're cutting costs". Even the most generous estimates of what these employees cost mean Google could have them do nothing and still make a healthy profit. Obviously they were doing something though so some value is being lost while costs are being cut. Remember that every time you hear "we're laying you off because of a recession" or "cheap labor in the developing world took your job" remember that it's all propaganda. In all cases, a capitalist simply decided to eliminate your job and possibly give it to someone else who is ostensibly cheaper. It's also worth noting that Sundar is financially incentivized to boost the share price [1]. There's not much semantic difference between "I take full responsibility" and "I want to maximize my own (already ridiculously large) pay packet". [1]:https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/story/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-gets-a-big-raise-heres-how-much-he-will-earn-now-357355-2022-12-22 https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/story/google-ceo-sun...