Google CEO

Google employees are reportedly expressing anger about CEO Sundar Pichai‘s massive $226 million pay package that makes him one of the highest-paid CEOs in America.

This is amid the tech giant’s cost-cutting measures including laying off 12,000 staff early this year citing decreasing revenue growth.

The company’s $70 billion stock buyback deal also elicited anger among Google’s staff.

Angry Google Staff Mock CEO Sundar Pichai’s Pay Deal

Google’s cost-cutting moves which included slashing 12,000 jobs, have reportedly drawn the ire of its employees who are angry about Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai’s pay package.

The Google CEO received a total compensation of $226 million in 2022. This is more than 800 times the average employee’s pay, according to the company’s SEC filing last week.

According to the filing, Pichai’s compensation included $218 million in stock awards, which he receives every three years. In 2019, he received a stock award for $276.6 million, which was part of the $280.6 million total compensation he received that year.

In 2022, this compensation included approximately $2 million base salary and $6 million for personal security. His 2021 package consisted of a $2 million salary and $4.3 million in other compensation.

Pichai’s massive pay has irked the anger of the Google workforce with its internal communication platforms filling up “with conversations and memes slamming the executive for taking a pay bump while slashing costs elsewhere”, CNBC reports.

The California-based company announced plans to lay off 12,000 staff across its offices around the world in January, representing 6% of its total workforce.

In early April, Reuters reported that Google employees at the company’s London offices staged a walkout following a dispute over job cuts.

Earlier in March, the tech company’s workers staged a walkout at its offices in Zurich after Google laid off more than 200 employees.

According to the CNBC’s Wednesday report, employees also criticized Alphabet’s recent share repurchase, which equaled its 2022 buyback. Pichai is the CEO of both Google and its parent Alphabet.

“Sundar accepting $226 million while laying off 12k Googlers”

Internal Google forums began producing memes after Pichai’s pay deal was revealed on April 21.

Some of the circulating memes compare the Google CEO to Apple CEO Tim Cook who took an over 40% pay cut from his 2022 package. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan also received a 98% reduction in his salary at around the same time after the company slashed over 1,300 jobs.

The memes also compared Pichai to Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson who took a pay cut a mid a 17% workforce reduction.

One meme with over 1,200 likes cited finance chief Ruth Porat’s comments about the company’s “multi-year” cuts to employee services read, “Ruth’s cost savings applied to everyone… except our hardworking VPS and CEO.”

Another reported meme showed Lord Farquaad from “Shrek,” quoting his infamous line, “Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.”

The accompanying text read:

Sundar accepting $226 million while laying off 12k Googlers, cutting perks, and destroying morale and culture.

The employees were also frustrated by Google’s plan to buy back $70 billion worth of stock, a clear sign that the company has enough money to cover its investments and operations.

A meme with over 700 likes read, “$70 billion in buybacks shows we respect external shareholders more than Googlers,”

Companies announced 270,416 job cuts during the first quarter of 2023 – with the technology sector accounting for more than a third (38%) of all the cuts at 102,391 layoffs.

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