We saw Google’s quarterly financial results not too long ago, and while The Big G wasn’t quite on par with Apple’s earning power, they still fared pretty damn well. So well, in fact, that the powers that be in Mountain View have reached into their deep pockets and are throwing a thousand greenbacks at each employee as a Christmas present. At 23,000 employees, that’s a cool $23million.
As Christmas presents go, it certainly beats a pair of socks. And that’s not all – each employee will also be on the receiving end of a 10% pay rise at the start of the new year. Google used to be a talent magnet, with unmatched staff facilities and hyper-competitive rates of pay, however lately the sheen has come off the search giant somewhat. Following a series of high-profile departures and defections, Google will want to shore up its image to potential employees – and what better way than to show the talent in Silicon Valley that it’s not averse to throwing money at loyal Googlers?
There have been stories of big-money offers by Facebook to lure Google employees away from the Googleplex, many of which have been successful. There have also been similar stories of Google trying the same tactics to entice talent away from the Good Ship Zuckerberg – with much less success. With an almost full-blown talent shortage in the Valley, both companies will be trying to build their reputations as exemplary innovators and model employers – although of course flashing the cash doesn’t hurt.
When asked for comment, the usually tight-lipped Google PR machine issued the following response –
“While we don’t typically comment on internal matters, we do believe that competitive compensation plans are important to the future of the company”
