Google CFO to cut expenses and curb hiring

15 Jul 2015

Google's new CFO Ruth Porat is to put the brakes on the search giant's rapid growth, cutting hiring in a bid to steady the ship.

Tech juggernaut Google’s frantic sprint in terms of growth and hiring is set to slow to a more steady and manageable pace. The company’s new CFO Ruth Porat is expected to announce a new approach during the company’s earnings announcement later this week.

Porat joined the company in May and has been auditing the company’s expenses and accounting systems.

Previously CFO of Morgan Stanley, Porat is renowned as the most powerful woman on Wall Street.

She took over the reigns from former Google CFO Patrick Pichette.

Google has grown rapidly since it was founded in 1998 and employs more than 55,000 people worldwide, including 5,000 direct and indirectly in Dublin.

However, according to the Wall Street Journal, Porat wants to make her mark on what has to become a more stable company.

Google will report its Q2 financial results on Thursday.

Google added 1,819 employees in Q1, the smallest increase since the last quarter of 2013 – last year Google added almost 2,500 employees per quarter.

And instead of expecting to simply add staff each year, Google executives are selecting which groups can hire and teams have to submit proposals outlining how additional employees will meet specific objectives.

Google HQ image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com