Alexander Lewis 
Feb 21, 2024
While tech companies, including Alphabet-owned Google, have been laying off staff in line with their plans to cut costs, the tech giant once offered a 300% salary hike to retain an employee.
During Big Technology Podcast, Perplexity AI Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Aravind Srinivas revealed that Google once went to great lengths to keep one of their employees, who was a part of the “search team”, from leaving.
It was further learnt that the employee was not directly involved with its AI division.
Recently, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the tech giant will likely take some tough decisions, including laying off employees.
Read more: Google layoffs 2024 — CEO warns employees of more job cuts
In an internal memo to all Google employees, Pichai wrote: "We have ambitious goals and will be investing in our big priorities this year. The reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices."
Reportedly, the Alphabet-owned company has laid off over 1,000 employees in various departments since January 10.
Earlier, Pichai had announced plans to cut approximately 12,000 jobs — 6% of its global workforce.
"I have some difficult news to share. We've decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles. We've already sent a separate email to employees in the US who are affected. In other countries, this process will take longer due to local laws and practices," he said.
