A partner at Andreessen Horowitz has entered the discussion surrounding "fake work" within Big Tech. David Ulevitch, in an interview with Emily Sundberg for her Substack newsletter "Feed Me," criticized Google for its employment of individuals in what he termed "BS jobs," estimating that "half the white-collar staff at Google probably does no real work."
Ulevitch, who previously served as the CEO of web security startup OpenDNS, emphasized the proliferation of irrelevant roles within large corporations, suggesting that many employees could be let go without significantly impacting the company.
He also highlighted the detrimental effects of these roles on small businesses and retirement programs.
Ulevitch's remarks resonate with sentiments expressed by other venture capitalists (VCs) and technology industry insiders. Marc Andreessen criticized the managerial "laptop class" within large companies, while Keith Rabois attributed mass layoffs at companies like Meta and Google to overstaffing. Thomas Siebel and others have similarly criticized the over-hiring of staff within Big Tech, suggesting that some employees were not significantly contributing, particularly while working from home.
Tech firms such as Meta and Google have indeed undergone significant workforce reductions in recent years, with the aim of enhancing efficiency. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared 2023 as the company's "year of efficiency," while Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressed concerns about productivity levels not aligning with the company's headcount.