The prediction was that within 1–2 years Google/Alphabet would (a) make significant headcount reductions and (b) push a broad return‑to‑office (RTO) regime, framed as part of a more serious, AI‑driven corporate strategy.

1. Significant headcount reductions tied to AI
Since early 2025—after the podcast’s May 2025 release—Google has conducted multiple rounds of layoffs, cutting hundreds of roles across its Global Business Organization and its Pixel, Android, Chrome, Cloud, and related platforms-and-devices units, explicitly described as part of restructuring and automation and as reallocating resources toward AI work. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
In addition, about four weeks ago Google offered voluntary buyouts to roughly 7,500 employees across Google and YouTube, explicitly described as an adaptation to fast‑moving AI developments and regulatory pressure—an unmistakably “large” headcount reduction program at Alphabet’s scale. (sfchronicle.com)
Other reporting notes targeted cuts of AI contractors and continued trimming in 2025, again framed as part of Google’s AI strategy. (aimmediahouse.com) This satisfies the “large number of employees”/significant headcount reduction component of the prediction well within the 1–2‑year window.

2. Broad return‑to‑office push
In 2025 Google tightened on‑site requirements beyond the already‑existing hybrid policy. Multiple reports describe remote employees living within about 50 miles of a Google office being told to start working at least three days a week in‑office or accept a voluntary exit package / risk job loss, affecting major units such as Search, Ads, Commerce, Marketing, Research, and Core Engineering. (businesstoday.in)
Later in 2025, Google further restricted its “Work From Anywhere” policy so that even a single remote day in a week counts as a full week from the limited WFA allowance, while warning non‑compliant employees about potential disciplinary action. (fortune.com)
These moves don’t change the headline “three‑days‑in‑office hybrid” rule (which pre‑dated 2025) but do represent a broad, company‑level tightening and enforcement of RTO—especially for previously approved fully‑remote employees—consistent with “get people to return back to office.”

3. Explicitly framed as part of an AI‑driven competitive push
Across these actions, Alphabet leadership repeatedly frames both cost‑cutting and workplace changes as necessary to compete in AI:

• Coverage of 2025 layoffs and reorganizations explicitly says Google is eliminating jobs and reshaping divisions to channel funds into AI research and generative‑AI products. (businesstoday.in)
• Pichai and senior executives, in all‑hands meetings and public filings, stress that Google must drive higher productivity, be “more AI‑savvy,” and invest tens of billions more in AI/datacenter capex while keeping overall costs in check. (cnbc.com)
• The 7,500‑person buyout program is explicitly linked to adapting to fast‑moving AI developments. (sfchronicle.com)

Taken together, by late 2025 Google has already done what the prediction described: sizable headcount reductions plus a materially stricter, widely applied RTO stance, both justified as part of a more serious, company‑wide effort to respond to AI competition. Because these conditions are already met well before the upper bound of “mid‑2027,” the prediction is best scored as right rather than merely “inconclusive.”