Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai received $226 million in 2022 amid cost cutting measures

On the one side, layoff news from tech companies has become common these days and on the other, the salaries of top management of these companies are increasing every year. One such news came from Google’s parent company. Alphabet Inc, in a securities filing, has revealed that it paid $226 million in 2022 to its chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai. This is more than 800 times the median employee’s pay. Also Read: Meta’s AI Can Now Dub And Translate Instagram And Facebook Reels In Hindi, Portuguese, And More

This news comes at a time when Google announced to cut 12,000 jobs across the world in January. This is equivalent to six percent of the company’s workforce globally. Also Read: Google’s New AI Tool Lets You See How Shoes Look On You Before Buying

In a blog post on January 20, 2023, Sundar Pichai wrote, “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.” Also Read: WhatsApp For iOS Gets A Fresh Liquid Glass Makeover Inspired By iOS 26

If we have 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 moving forward with layoffs are generally financials which involve cost-cutting and streamlining operations.
These layoffs affect workers, their families, and economies the most. Consider this, Indian workers who are working in the US on H1B visas have to find a new job within 60 days or earlier if their authorisation validity ends before. Those who don’t find a new job within that period are forced to leave and return to India.

In India too, the job prospects are limited or are declining considering the global scenario and the country has its own set of challenges in the job market like population, limited resources and low investment. The “booming IT sector” has witnessed a sluggish growth of lately with some companies putting a hiring freeze as others resort to layoffs. The reason behind this is mainly anticipated recession in the US and high inflation in Europe.

Well, layoffs are not the first options that a company chooses when it thinks of cost-cutting. They resort to many alternatives like cutting unnecessary expenses such as free snacks or funds towards the purchase of personal devices before restoring to layoffs. But even these measures affect a general employee and top management generally bypasses cost-cutting measures.