If you’re one of the 23,000 people working for Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), you awoke to a nice surprise in your e-mail inbox this morning.
Earlier today Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, sent an e-mail to every Google employee informing them of the $1,000 Christmas bonus they will be receiving, in addition to the 10% pay increase they can expect next year. If you know a Google employee, now’s the time to e-mail your holiday wish list.
“We want to make sure that you feel rewarded for your hard work,” Schmidt wrote to employees. “We want to continue to attract the best people to Google.”
The pay increase is an attempt to keep employees happy, and prevent them from browsing the help-wanted ads. It has been previously reported in the Wall Street Journal that Google has had issues with skilled employees leaving for other Internet companies like Facebook.
Approximately 10% of Facebook’s employees once worked at Google; many as executives, product managers and engineers. Google is well aware that the experience learned by its employees can be very valuable to other up-and-coming Internet companies. A pay increase for 23,000 people may be costly, but with about $20 billion in cash, Google can more than afford the peace of mind that comes with happy employees.
A Google spokesman responded to the news by saying, “While we don’t typically comment on internal matters, we do believe that competitive compensation plans are important to the future of the company.”
Even if you’re not employed by the search engine giant, today’s news may have a silver lining. The fact that Google remains fearful of other companies stealing its employees suggests an increasing number of job openings at these booming corporations. Likewise, a minimum 10% raise to every single employee proves that Google values the hard work and dedication of its workers.
It will be interesting to see if other technology companies follow Google’s lead.
With about $23 billion in cash and short-term securities, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:
AAPL) certainly has the means to line the pockets of its 46,000 employees. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is another tech giant that may worry about defecting employees. Its 89,000 employees would love to see some of the approximately $40 billion in cash the company retains.
