Google Workers Unhappy With Salary Hike Vent At All-Hands Meeting

Google employees have voiced their dissatisfaction with the salary hike they received this year. Despite Google’s strong financial performance, many employees expressed disappointment over the smaller-than-expected increases in their 2025 compensation packages. According to a report by Business Insider, they raised their concerns directly with senior management during a recent all-hands meeting.

Employees raised the concern during a company-wide all-hands meeting on Tuesday, March 25, according to the meeting transcript. In Google’s monthly TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday) meetings, employees have the opportunity to submit questions and vote on the ones they most want addressed.

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Employee Concerns Over Salary Hike

This month, one of the most popular questions raised was why some employees experienced a decline in their refreshed stock grants and overall compensation. Typically, Google’s compensation package includes a base salary, equity awards, and, in some cases, bonuses.

John Casey, Google’s Vice President for Global Compensation and Benefits, informed employees that over 80% of the workforce received a year-on-year increase in their 2025 compensation. However, he noted that the company provided smaller equity packages to some employees in less technical roles to align their salaries with local market standards.

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Casey emphasized that Google aims to compensate employees based on their impact, with the company’s compensation structure designed to reward high performers, according to the report.

The salary hikes this year follow a similar trend to last year when some employees saw base pay increases of less than 3%, a significant drop from the historical average of 8-10%.

Google seeks efficiency

In December last year, Google laid off 10 per cent of its managerial staff as part of a long-running campaign to increase efficiency. Alphabet Inc.-owned Google launched its efficiency drive in September 2022.

In an open letter to employees then, CEO Sundar Pichai took “full responsibility for the decisions that led us here”, but said the company had to fuel preceding periods of dramatic growth”.

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In the same meeting, Mr. Pichai discussed transforming the corporate culture and redefining “Googleyness”—a somewhat ambiguous term that has evolved over the years but is generally understood as the qualities Google seeks in potential hires.