Leaked audio from a Google's all-hands meeting in December 2023 revealed Pichai saying it was not the best idea to inform all employees impacted by the layoffs simultaneously

"I think it's something we could have done differently for sure," he said.

He also said the decision to cut off access to work accounts immediately after announcing the cuts was very difficult

“I wish we’d been more low key when we fired all of those people, now give me sympathy for my very hard job”