Google sacks employee for leaking pay-hike memo- TOI Tech, Nov 12, 2010,

Google sacks employee for leaking pay-hike memo

TOI Tech, Nov 12, 2010, 11.11am IST


The hike that splashed on business news sites across the world was apparently leaked by a Google employee.
Internet search giant Google Inc is giving a 10 percent salary hike to all of its 23,000 employees across the world starting next year.

The pay hike comes as Google ramps up its battle with competitors, especially new rival Facebook Inc, in a fight to secure talented staff. About 10 percent of Facebook's employees are Google veterans.

However, the hike that splashed on business news sites across the world was apparently leaked by a Google employee. The company has reportedly sacked the employee who leaked the internal memo to Business Insider and Fortune. According to CNN Money, within hours, Google notified its employees that it has terminated the employee who leaked the memo.

Past few weeks has seen several high-profile exits at Google. These included YouTube co-founder and CEO Chad Hurley, AdMob co-founder Omar Hamoui and Google Maps and Wave creator Lars Rasmussen.

Here's the original memo (from Google CEO Eric Schmidt) as appeared on Business Insider:

CONFIDENTIAL: INTERNAL ONLY
GOOGLERS ONLY (FULL TIME AND PART TIME EMPLOYEES)

I'm pleased to share some very, very good news with Googlers worldwide. But first let me say, on behalf of everyone on the management team, that we believe we have the best employees in the world. Period. The brightest, most capable group of this size ever assembled. It's why I'm excited to come to work every day--and I'm sure you feel the same way. We want to make sure that you feel rewarded for your hard work, and we want to continue to attract the best people to Google.

So that is why we've decided...to give all of you a 10% raise, effective January 1st. This salary increase is global and across the board--everyone gets a raise, no matter their level, to recognize the contribution that each and every one of you makes to Google.

There's more. We've heard from your feedback on Googlegeist and other surveys that salary is more important to you than any other component of pay (i.e., bonus and equity). To address that, we're moving a portion of your bonus into your base salary, so now it's income you can count on, every time you get your paycheck. That's also effective January 1st. You'll be receiving an email shortly with further details about these changes to your compensation. And one last thing...today we're announcing that everyone will get a holiday cash bonus, too.

Googlers, you are what makes this company great, and our goal here is to recognize you for your contribution, in a way that's meaningful to you. Thank you for all that you do, and for making Google a place where magic happens.

Eric