Christmas Comes Early for Employees of Google

[PeaceNikki]

Google has given all of its employees $1,000 cash "holiday bonuses" and 2011 salary increases of at least 10%, a loyal reader tells us.

The 10% company-wide raise will take effect on January 1, 2011. In addition, Google will also give each employee an additional raise equivalent to 1X the employee's target bonus for the year. And employees will be eligible for additional "merit increases" based on their individual performance. In another nice gesture, Google will pay the taxes on the $1,000 holiday cash bonuses, thus allowing employees to keep the whole thing.

(You can sniff that $1,000 isn't much, but it's a lot more than nothing, and spread across 20,000 employees, it's costing the company $20 million. A 10+% raise on a total cost base of $20 billion, meanwhile, will probably cost the company $1 billion a year, assuming a third of those costs are compensation. Judging from an internal memo, the new salary costs will be somewhat offset by reduced bonuses and stock option grants.)

This surprise news, Google CEO Eric Schmidt explained in an internal email (see below), comes in response to feedback that Googlers most value the salary part of their compensation far more highly than bonuses or stock compensation.

And what does it suggest about the company? Well, first it suggests that Google is still an awesome place to work. Given that employee retention has been a problem, it also suggests that Google is now going the extra mile to keep its employees happy. Lastly, it suggests that the company's financial performance continues to be very strong.

http://gawker.com/5685991/christmas-comes-early-for-employees-of-google

More at link.

Neat :)

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Sure makes me wish I worked for Google.

[PeaceNikki]

2. Which is their evil plan...

to make everyone want to work there. ;)

[BrklynLiberal]

5. lol

[Canuckistanian]

3. Everything comes early for Google employees

Illusions of relevance, obsessions of grandeur and mid-life crises.

[PeaceNikki]

6. Aw, lighten up, Francis. It's a feel good story. A company that values people.

Let's hope Google has set an example others follow, huh?

[Canuckistanian]

10. What does Google actually do?

Oh, yeah, they make software that does some nifty little tricks. I'll argue that Google is the best search engine since 1999, but what else do they do?

Oh, yeah, they sell overpriced advertisements that annoy people. But after you turn the computer off, what's left?

[PeaceNikki]

13. Really? You don't know?

You should Google it. lol

Their R&D is pretty amazing and it's driven by their people.

[Terra Alta]

15. they have the bet web browser on the market.

I'd take Chrome any day over Internet Explorer or even Firefox.

[PeaceNikki]

17. Here's one cool story

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/science/10google.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

[Initech]

18. The Google Android OS for cell phones is pretty sweet.

[PeaceNikki]

19. And their high-speed fiber network.

[RonReagan]

4. Gotta be

the BEST place to work.

[iris27]

7. $1000 isn't much? It's 13 times more than what I get!

25 times more if we're talking post-tax amounts...

[PeaceNikki]

8. I agree. However, compared to salaries at their HQ in NoCal, it's not THAT much.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. It's $1000 more than I'll be getting

LOL

[cbdo2007]

9. See all the good those tax dodges are doing?? I guess we can overlook a little tax evasion for this.

[PeaceNikki]

11. Right, it'd be better if they cut salaries, laid off workers and only bonused the execs, huh?

[Terra Alta]

12. I'm obviously working for the wrong company

Here at Wally World, we're supposed to be getting a bonus around Christmas, but if it's any more than $100 I'll faint.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. I wish I had bought Google stock when it was affordable

[PeaceNikki]

20. Kick for happy news

:)

[spanone]

21. good for google.