From a recent CNBC article (listed below):

“A Google executive told employees last week that in the past year, the company has gotten rid of a third of its managers overseeing small teams.

…said the idea is to reduce bureaucracy and run the company more efficiently.

The 35% reduction refers to the number of managers who oversee fewer than three people, according to a person familiar with the matter. Many of those managers stayed with the company as individual contributors, said the person, who asked not to be named because the details are private.

CNBC previously reported that the layoffs hurt morale as the company was downsizing while at the same time issuing blowout earnings and seeing its stock price jump. Alphabet’s shares are up 10% this year after climbing 36% in 2024 and 58% the year prior…”

Few questions that come to my mind:
Is this a part of a broader trend of restructuring, where companies across the board are actively trying to reduce management layers? More and more companies seem to be announcing reduction of managers and layers.
How do organizations get here in the first place? As they grow, do uncontrolled inefficiencies naturally creep in?
How does this impact feelings of loyalty and commitment (internal), among employees who still remain employed with the organization?
How does AI progress influence these changes and decisions?

If the nature of work or the environment hasn’t really changed, then such cuts may not really help the companies in the longer run (other than improving short term costs). Well designed and planned manager roles are normally intended to help efficiently deliver outcomes and the cuts without proper planning and foresight lead to confusion, inefficiencies and frustration over time.

Organizations and leaders have to think deeply about their optimal organization design and structure, without needing to revisit the same topic frequently. Otherwise, constant organization disruptions consume a lot of attention and energy from members which inevitably end up taking focus away from the core topics – differentiated business impact, customers, stakeholders, the marketplace.

There seems to be at least two clear perspectives in these shifts – companies working on becoming more efficient on one side
(with constant investor pressure) and, employees figuring out how to survive and thrive during times of such major changes.

Source: Google has eliminated 35% of managers overseeing small teams in past year, exec says; CNBC; August 27, 2025; Jennifer Elias