On one hand, the news of layoffs from tech companies has become common these days and on the other hand, the salaries of the top management of these companies are increasing every year. One such news has come from Google’s parent company. Alphabet Inc has disclosed in a securities filing that it paid its chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai $226 million in 2022. This is more than 800 times the salary of the average employee.
The news comes at a time when Google in January announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs worldwide. This is equivalent to six per cent of the company’s workforce globally.
In a blog post dated January 20, 2023, Sundar Pichai wrote, “I have some tough news to share. We have taken the decision to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles. We have already sent a separate email to affected employees in the US. In other countries, the process will take longer due to local laws and practices.”
If we take a look at the layoff numbers, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook-owned Meta, the largest US tech companies have laid off around 51,000 employees recently. The reasons cited by these companies before proceeding with the layoffs are generally financial, including cost-cutting and streamlining operations.
These layoffs affect workers, their families and economies the most. Consider this, Indian workers working in the US on H1B visas will have to find a new job within 60 days or earlier if their authorization validity expires earlier. Those who do not get any new job within that period are forced to leave India and return to India.
In India too, the job prospects are limited or decreasing in view of the global scenario and the country has its own challenges in the job market like population, limited resources and low investment. The “booming IT sector” has recently witnessed a sluggish growth with some companies resorting to layoffs. This is mainly due to the expected recession in the US and high inflation in Europe.
Well, layoffs are not the first option a company chooses when it thinks of cutting costs. They resort to several options such as cutting unnecessary expenses such as free snacks or funding the purchase of personal equipment prior to reinstatement of layoffs. But these measures also affect a common employee and the top management usually bypasses the cost-cutting measures.
The post Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai to get $226 million in 2022 amid cost-cutting measures appeared first on Techlusive.
