Beijing time May 4 morning news, Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly received a significant pay raise last year, thus becoming one of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States. Last week, Google’s parent company Alphabet announced it was authorized to move forward with a $70 billion (currently about RMB 483.7 billion) stock buyback program. But at the same time, Alphabet has been aggressively cutting costs, including laying off 12,000 employees, in response to slowing revenue growth.
This series of moves has caused discontent among Google employees. In the weeks since Sundar Pichai’s annual salary was announced, there has been a lot of discussion on Google’s internal platform, pointing the finger at Sundar Pichai for accepting a raise despite the company’s deep cost cuts. Some employees have also been critical of the stock buybacks, a round of which is comparable in size to 2022.
Sundar Pichai’s total compensation last year was $226 million (currently about RMB 1.562 billion), most of which came from $218 million in stock incentives, SEC filings show. Pichai’s total compensation package also included nearly $6 million in personal security services and $2 million in base pay. By comparison, in 2021, Sundar Pichai’s total compensation package of $6.3 million includes $2 million in base compensation and $4.3 million in other compensation, but no stock incentives.
Some Google employees have compared Sundar Pichai’s pay to that of other tech executives, and in January, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that his pay would be cut by more than 40% from his target total compensation for 2022. At about the same time, Zoom CEO Yuan Zheng announced a 98% pay cut and bonus cuts after the company laid off 1,300 employees, while Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson said he would accept a pay cut amid a 17% layoff.
The news came as more than a dozen discussions appeared on Google’s intranet discussion boards, many of which received hundreds of likes. One with more than 1,200 likes referenced Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat. In a rare company-wide email last month, she wrote that Alphabet is moving forward with cuts to employee services that “will last for years,” ranging from employee laptops to gym fees and café meals.
The message reads, “Perrat’s cost reductions apply to all employees, except our hard-working vice presidents and CEOs.”
Google has yet to respond to this.
This isn’t the first time Pichai has come under fire for his recent decision. In January, Pichai said he took “full responsibility” for the situation that led to company-wide layoffs. Then, at an all-employee meeting, employees asked Pichai why executives were getting raises if he was taking responsibility. Pichai replied that the senior vice presidents were “accepting a significant reduction in bonuses” and that he himself would forgo them.
The text on another popular image reads, “Sundar accepted $226 million while cutting 12,000 jobs, slashing benefits and destroying morale and culture.” The text on the other side reads, “Some of you may not survive, but this is a sacrifice I am willing to make.”
Sundar Pichai’s money-related conversations date back to late last year. At the time, he had told a company-wide meeting, “We shouldn’t always equate fun with money.” At the time, he responded to questions about why the company was eliminating certain employee benefits but dodged employees’ questions about executive pay cuts.
Employees were also frustrated by Alphabet’s $70 billion share buyback program, which suggests the company has more than enough cash to cover expenses for business operations and investments. One entry, which received more than 700 likes, read, “The $70 billion stock buyback shows that we respect outside shareholders more than Google employees.”
