MOUNTAIN VIEW, California: In an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg TV, Google ceo Eric Schmidt (pictured) admitted that even the unstoppable search leviathan is feeling the Arctic chill of recession – despite which, he assured investors, the company has not been hurt by the global recession.
He admitted, however, that Google's ruling triumvirate (himself plus co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin) are taking a long, hard look at costs and have put the brakes on recruitment.
"We have slowed our hiring, but we're still hiring," Schmidt said. "We're still doing the same kinds of exciting and crazy things that Google always does."
Crazy things? That's a brand of folksiness not normally associated with the hard-headed ceo of the planet's 289th most successful company (by 2007 asset value). Might he be trying to play down something, some observers wonder?
But Schmidt continued to allay investors' concerns: "Google is in a good position. We've always said we take a long-term view."
Meantime, company spokesperson Jane Penner confirmed the search titan's intention to slash the number of its contract workers, of whom there are around ten thousand.
"This is something we've been thinking about for a while, six or seven months. It predates the most acute phase of the [economic] crisis."
He admitted, however, that Google's ruling triumvirate (himself plus co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin) are taking a long, hard look at costs and have put the brakes on recruitment.
"We have slowed our hiring, but we're still hiring," Schmidt said. "We're still doing the same kinds of exciting and crazy things that Google always does."
Crazy things? That's a brand of folksiness not normally associated with the hard-headed ceo of the planet's 289th most successful company (by 2007 asset value). Might he be trying to play down something, some observers wonder?
But Schmidt continued to allay investors' concerns: "Google is in a good position. We've always said we take a long-term view."
Meantime, company spokesperson Jane Penner confirmed the search titan's intention to slash the number of its contract workers, of whom there are around ten thousand.
"This is something we've been thinking about for a while, six or seven months. It predates the most acute phase of the [economic] crisis."
Data sourced from multiple origins; additional content by WARC staff
