Sundar Pichai faces backlash

• Google employees express discontent over CEO Sundar Pichai's $226 million compensation package.
• Memes mocking Pichai's pay have appeared on the company's internal forums, according to a report by CNBC.
• One meme likened Pichai to the antagonist of the "Shrek" franchise, Lord Farquaad.

Google employees are reportedly sharing memes on internal systems to criticize CEO Sundar Pichai's $226 million pay increase during a time of cost-cutting for the company. One of the memes posted on the internal forum features Lord Farquaad, the villain from the movie "Shrek," with a quote that reads "Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make." The accompanying text claims that Pichai is accepting a huge sum of money while laying off 12,000 Googlers, cutting perks, and ruining the company's morale and culture, according to CNBC.

In January, Google laid off approximately 12,000 workers, which represented about 6% of its worldwide staff. In response, CEO Sundar Pichai took full responsibility, acknowledging that the company had employed more workers than necessary for the current economic situation. Google has since continued to reduce its well-known employee perks.

In January, Google laid off approximately 12,000 workers, which represented about 6% of its worldwide staff. In response, CEO Sundar Pichai took full responsibility, acknowledging that the company had employed more workers than necessary for the current economic situation. Google has since continued to reduce its well-known employee perks.

Sundar Pichai's salary was augmented in the previous year by stock awards valued at $218 million. As stated in legal documents, Pichai received a salary of $226 million in 2022, placing him among the highest-paid CEOs in the United States.

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, is awarded shares every three years, and in 2019 he received over $280 million. However, his pay significantly decreased to $7.4 million in 2020 and just over $6 million in 2021, according to CNN. These figures indicate a significant drop in pay from the stock awards worth $218 million that he received in 2022.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced at an all-hands meeting that company executives would receive a "very significant reduction in their annual bonus." This comes after reports of employees criticizing Pichai's $226 million pay packet while the company was cutting costs and laying off workers. Pichai has previously taken responsibility for the layoffs and stated that the company had hired for a different economic reality than the current one.

Read the original article on : Business Insider