Google scales back town hall meetings for leaks

It is a "coordinated effort" to leak meetings after each TGIF, Pichai said. He argued that this damaged Google's ability to use TGIF as a platform for "honest conversations" on key topics. The company will continue to hold town hall discussions for "important workplace issues," the management exercised, and there will still be "social TGIFs" in local offices. There just won't be one bi-weekly meeting to cover everyone.

Pichai added that the distinction between product discussions and other issues did not "serve one of its purposes very well." He also noted that viewership has dropped significantly over the last decade from 80 percent of Google employees to just 25 percent. This was partly because the company grew, according to the CEO.

Google confirmed the accuracy of the email to Engadget, but did not comment further.

The move could cause mixed reactions on Google. Sometimes leaks have been used to spin Google's internal discussions, such as Breitbart 's attempt to use a TGIF meeting in 201[ads1]6 as evidence of political bias in the company's products. This theoretically reduces the chance of weaponizing TGIF meetings. But at the same time, the reduced frequency can be seen as a way to avoid dealing with corporate culture complaints, including reports of retaliation against protesters. While this may help Google control more of its own narrative, it can prevent solutions to any deep-seated issues.