Google Workers’ Satisfaction with Pay and Promotions Falls, Surveys Show – CNET

Google may need to become more aggressive with employee compensation as new internal “Googlegeist” surveys show staff growing increasingly less satisfied with pay and promotion prospects. 

The survey results, viewed by CNBC, shows that only 53% of respondents said their pay is competitive with similar roles elsewhere. That’s reportedly down 12 points from last year. According to the results, 56% said their pay is “fair and equitable,” which is eight points lower than the prior year. Lastly, 64% of employees are satisfied with their pay, saying it reflects their performance, although this was down three points. The annual surveys were reportedly taken in January. 

Over in the cloud group, only 54% of employees said the promotion process is fair, which is a two-point decline. In an internal email by Thomas Kurian, CEO of cloud services, he said there’s “a lack of criteria for promotions” and “lack of transparency,” according to CNBC. 

Prabhakar Raghavan, a senior vice president responsible for Search and other products, reportedly said in an internal email that 61% of employees said they’re unable to meet goals. He wrote that, “We need to make sure that you succeed to your full abilities and keep learning and growing in your careers here,” according to CNBC. 

“We know that our employees have many choices about where they work, so we work to ensure that they are very well compensated,” said a Google spokesperson in a statement to CNET. “That’s why we’ve always provided top of market compensation across salary, equity, leave, and a suite of benefits. Getting employee feedback is important and we’ll continue to ensure we pay competitively everywhere our employees work and help them grow their careers at Google.”

In a statement from August, Google said, “We always pay at the top of the local market based on where an employee works from.” Last year, Reuters reported the company was considering pay reductions for workers who chose to permanently move from major offices. Pay cuts for employees leaving California and New York could be as much as 25% based on where an employee moved, according to Insider. 

Alphabet’s median employee compensation was $273,493 in 2020, according to S&P Global. This includes CEO and executive compensation. The median pay for Facebook employees in 2019 was $228,651 according to SEC filings analyzed by Wired. Apple’s median pay through 2021 was noticeably lower at $68,254, likely due to retail store employees also being lumped into the calculation.

Google employees seem to be happy with executive leadership and the company’s core mission. Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly received an 86% favorability rating from employees, with 74% saying that he inspires them and that his “decisions and strategies enable Google to do excellent work.” Google’s mission to organize the “world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” ranks high for employees. The company’s core mission received a 90% rating and its values came in at 85%, according to CNBC. Nearly all respondents working under Raghavan, 96%, said that Google’s products are helpful to people. 

Google also reportedly received strong marks from employees regarding diversity and inclusion. Between 82% and 90% of employees surveyed had favorable views of “belonging” and felt that their opinions are valued. 

Google employees have been working remotely since the start of the pandemic, but the company plans for most workers to return to the office under a hybrid model April 4. Employees will be required to be in the office at least three days a week. The return date was delayed from earlier in January due to the spread of the omicron variant. 

Correction, March. 15: A previous version of this article mistakenly said that 46% of respondents felt their pay was competitive. That number is actually 53%.