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. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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”
