Google executives were met with a barrage of questions and criticisms from employees about salaries, and officials defended the company's competitiveness, at a recent comprehensive meeting, according to CNBC.

The company-wide online meeting came earlier this March, after the results of an internal survey were released, which showed that an increasing number of employees do not view their salaries as fair or competitive with other competing companies.

During the meeting, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and other senior executives, read out the top questions from Dory, an internal website where Google employees write their questions on it and questions that should go to management are voted on by their colleagues.

The questions that got the highest ratings from employees before the March meeting centered on salaries and raises.

Pichai read aloud a question that got the highest ratings from employees: “The salary survey conducted among employees showed the largest decrease from last year, what is your understanding of the reason for this?”

According to the survey results mentioned in the question, only 46% of the respondents said that their overall salaries are competitive compared to similar jobs in other companies.

Brett Hill was the first to respond.

Hale is Google's vice president of Total Rewards, which refers to salary packages.

"There are some private economic reasons at play," Hill said. "It's a very competitive market and you might hear stories about colleagues who got better offers at other companies."

Engineers have long viewed Google as the place to go in Silicon Valley for the highest pay and benefits.

However, the company faces a clear challenge in its efforts to maintain this situation, as the high rates of inflation and the decline in technology shares over the past four months - even after the big rise last year - left employees in a state of nervousness.

In a statement to CNBC, a Google spokesperson said the employees are being paid well and that the company appreciates the feedback on this matter.

“We know our employees have many choices about where they work, so we ensure they are paid very well,” a company spokesperson said. “That is why we have always offered the highest benefits package in the market across salary, equity, vacation and a host of benefits.” ".

Retention and employee satisfaction are more important than ever for Google and its industry peers, as record numbers of people in the United States are leaving their jobs and exploring new opportunities.

Google is also about to start returning most of its employees to physical offices at least 3 days a week, adding another incentive for workers as they consider employment in the future.

There is a list of 81 companies with which Google usually competes for talent, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft (The New York Times)

Salaries are still a priority

One of the top-rated questions read at the Google meeting referred to Amazon increasing the salaries of its employees, noting that the e-shopping company had told it would double its maximum basic salary for corporate workers, citing the competitive labor market. (Apple is paying more for its employees in incentives to own restricted stock units, then inquire about the steps Google is taking in this area.

Hill, who joined the company in 2021 after 15 years at Amazon, said there is a list of 81 companies with which Google usually competes for talent, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft.

These are the places where Google finds talent, and they are also the places where its employees go when they leave, he said.

On average, Hill noted, Google pays 5% to 10% higher than the market.

"We already compare favorably with these companies," Hill added. "We are able to hire from them. We will make changes when we need to."

Pichai agreed with Hill and said, "One thing I would add, for any particular company, we look very seriously to see and compare the full packages to individuals, not just salary."

He added that Google is doing "very positively compared to almost all companies".

The employees are not convinced

Based on the other questions, employees aren't convinced by Google's comparison to other companies, Pichai reads, "Google employee results show a 10-point decrease in our annual wage figures competitive with other companies, while leadership continues to say we pay the highest value in Market Is it time to remove low-wage companies like Walmart from our standards and adjust employee wages accordingly?

"This trend is of concern to us and we are monitoring it closely," Hill replied.