Google Execs Skirt Questions About Concerns Over New Performance Review System

Google is warning that more employees are at risk for low-performance reviews once it begins a new system next year.   

The new system, coined Google Reviews and Development (GRAD), will make it harder for staff to reach higher rankings, with just 22% expected to be among those with satisfactory reviews, down from the 27% prior.    

During a recent all-hands meeting, Google execs forecast that 6% of full-time workers will fall into the bottom tier of performance rankings, a spike from the 2% seen before.   

In order for employees to achieve high rankings, they must reach “near-impossible” goals and offer the company “more than we thought possible.”  

Google staff have expressed issues with GRAD, which has added to job-loss anxiety that may contribute to even worse performance. With tech layoffs sweeping the industry, some believe the new system could be an easy way for Google to cut their headcount.   

“What we’ve been trying hard to do is we are trying to prioritize where we can so we are set up to better weather the storm, regardless of what’s ahead,” said CEO Sundar Pichai during an all-hands meeting earlier this month.    

“We really don’t know what the future holds so unfortunately I cannot make forward looking commitments but everything we’ve been planning on as a company for the past six to seven months has been do all the hard work to try and work our way through this as best as possible so, that’s all I can say.”