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Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaking at a panel at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Summit of the Americas on June 9, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. The CEO Summit marked his second day of events with the formal signing of the “United Nations to Link Marine Protected Areas” and a speech by US President Joe Biden. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Google CEO Sundar Pichai received a big pay raise last year, making him one of America’s highest-paid CEOs. Last week, his company announced authorization for his $70 billion share buyback.
Meanwhile, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is aggressively cutting costs, cutting 12,000 jobs in response to slowing revenue growth.
This confluence of events provoked the ire of Google employees. In the weeks since Pichai’s salary was made public, Google’s internal platform was filled with conversations and memes accusing his CEO of raising salaries while cutting costs elsewhere. Some employees criticized share buybacks comparable to 2022 share buybacks.
SEC filing Pichai indicated that it received a total of $226 million last year, primarily through $218 million in stock awards. His package included about $6 million in personal security and his $2 million base salary. In 2021, Pichai received a total of $6.3 million, consisting of $2 million in salary and $4.3 million in other compensation, but no stock compensation.
Memes comparing him to Pichai began circulating apple CEO Tim Cook was cut more than 40% from his 2022 target total compensation in January. Around the same time zoom CEO Eric Yuan said the company would cut salaries by 98% and decline bonuses after cutting 1,300 jobs. Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson said the company will cut salaries as part of the 17% job cuts.
Google’s internal discussion forums were filled with more than a dozen memes from employees, many with hundreds of likes, according to a post seen by CNBC. One meme, with more than 1,200 likes, wrote last month in a rare company-wide email that the company was making “multi-year” cuts to employee services, said financial chief Ruth. CNBC found that the cuts ranged from employee laptops and expenses to fitness classes and cafe items.
“Ruth’s cost savings apply to everyone except hard-working VPSs and CEOs,” Meme said.
Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
This isn’t the first time Pichai has been criticized for his recent decisions. Pichai said in January that he would take “full responsibility” for the circumstances that led to company-wide layoffs.
At an all-hands meeting, an employee asked Pichai why executives were getting pay cuts when Pichai was responsible. Pichai said the senior vice president had “severely cut his bonuses” and he was giving them up.
Another popular meme featured an image of Shrek’s character Lord Farquaad and said, “Thunder is laying off 12,000 Google employees, cutting perks, destroying morale and culture while making $226 million.” Received” text. A quote from the character reads, “Some of you may die, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.
In the 2001 computer-animated fantasy, Lord Farquaad is the ruler of Duroc who banishes many fairy-tale creatures into the swamps.
The topic of Pichai and money has been controversial since late last year when the CEO said at an all-hands meeting that “fun and money should not always be equated.” At the time, he did not respond to employee questions about cuts in executive pay, although he was responding to certain benefits the company was phasing out.
Some of the frustration is directed at Google’s plans to buy back $70 billion of stock. This indicates that the company has sufficient cash to cover its operations and investments. A recent meme that was liked more than 700 times said, “The $70 billion buyback shows that Google respects outside shareholders more than Googlers.”
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