In a recent discussion on the Big Technology Podcast, Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity AI highlighted the lengths to which big tech companies, such as Google, are willing to go to retain their employees. Srinivas recounted a specific instance where Google offered to 4x (300% hike) the salary of an employee who was considering a position at Perplexity AI.
The employee in question was part of Google’s search team, not directly involved with its AI division, yet the company deemed it crucial to significantly increase his offer to prevent him from leaving. The IIT-Madras alumni Srinivas expressed his astonishment at Google’s willingness to escalate the offer so drastically.
Additionally, Srinivas touched upon the issue of layoffs in the tech sector. He said there’s uncertainty about the criteria companies use to determine who is let go. He mentioned that, according to what he had heard, companies might target those with high salaries who do not proportionately contribute to productivity. He pointed out that at companies like Google, employees can take extensive vacations without affecting the company’s operations, though there seems to be a shift towards scrutinizing the output relative to compensation more closely.
Google Layoffs
Google had decided to lay off some of its employees in the month of January this year. Approximately 1,000 people who were working for Google lost their jobs in the fresh wave of layoffs. The jobs that were eliminated span various areas of the company, including the teams working on Google’s hardware, central engineering, and Google Assistant.
Google is also allowing these individuals to apply for other positions within the company. If they are unable to secure another position at Google by April, they will have to depart. Last year, in January, the company conducted its biggest layoffs by removing 12,000 employees. The year 2024 is also witnessing a wave of layoffs from tech companies.
