Googlers have questions for the company after getting smaller pay bumps
Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/BI
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Welcome back to our Sunday edition, where we round up some of our top stories and take you inside our newsroom. With "Signalgate" dominating headlines, BI's Katie Notopoulos wants to know: Which high-ranking official's group chat texting style most matches yours? Let her know here for an upcoming story!
On the agenda today:
- Tesla has flirted with disaster before, but can it overcome Musk's politics?
- Alpha-male energy is taking over the workplace. Women are fighting back.
- The golden age of private equity is over. Here is what it means for your career.
- Is it still shoplifting if you're stealing from Jeff Bezos?
But first: Googlers have questions.
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This week's dispatch
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Google grilled over comp
We've written a lot about the tech industry's hardcore moment. Talk of efficiency and intensity has replaced perks and pampering. Rolling layoffs have become the norm. Management layers are thinning. AI can help companies do more with less.
Now, at least at Google, some employees aren't pleased about their recent compensation packages. And they're speaking out about it.
Some Google employees received smaller pay bumps in their 2025 compensation packages than they anticipated, according to an exclusive report from my BI colleague Hugh Langley. Googlers raised the issue at a recent company all-hands, per a meeting transcript that Hugh obtained, where they wondered why some employees had seen a decrease in their refreshed stock grants and overall comp.
A Google exec at the all-hands said some employees in less technical roles received smaller equity packages this year to calibrate pay to local markets.
But the story got me thinking about how Google's lower comp fits into the changing tech industry. I spoke with Hugh about his reporting and what it means for Google.
Steve: What's the reaction to your scoop?
Hugh: Whenever I write about compensation, I get a lot of feedback from employees across Big Tech. I know some of these stories can have a "world's smallest violin" feeling to them — Googlers, on the whole, are still paid very well! But in the battle for talent, this stuff really matters.
What impact do you see this having on Google's workforce?
The fact it got raised during the company's all-hands means it's on a lot of employees' minds. The biggest possible impact is a hit to morale, especially for employees in non-technical roles that have been dinged hardest.
As the tech industry becomes more hardcore about work, how do you see Google fitting into that overall trend?
Google is certainly going hardcore, but in typical Google fashion, it's doing it less dramatically, less publicly, and without any of the political chest-thumping we've seen from the likes of Meta. Googlers once felt they were the only ones safe from layoffs, but now rolling job cuts have become the new norm. It's also chopped away at management layers and in some cases set a higher bar for performance.
Of course, there are plenty of employees who see this all as a good thing, but there's a feeling among many staff that the era of mollycoddling at Alphabet is well and truly over.
Tesla's tipping point
MANDEL NGAN/Getty, _iceman/Getty, Ava Horton/BI
Many assumed Elon Musk's proximity to President Donald Trump would be a net positive — but the opposite has proven to be true. Musk's involvement with DOGE has triggered an identity crisis within Tesla.
Over the years, Tesla and its CEO have faced dire predictions, but each time they seem to have emerged stronger. However, for some employees, analysts, and investors, Musk's political entanglements represent a new challenge.
Why this time feels different.
Also read:
Navigating the private equity slump
Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty, MILANTE/Getty, Ava Horton/BI
The business of buying and selling companies is slowing down. Buyout funds recently underperformed the stock market for the first time in decades.
But that doesn't mean PE vets and newcomers have to fret. Certain opportunities are in demand, and — if you're more junior — there's good news for you, too.
What to know about PE careers.
Bucking the billionaire bros
Nathalie Lees for BI
Since CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg started calling for more "masculine energy" in the workplace, a small group of their female colleagues has been organizing their resistance.
Some female executives worry that big business's latest testosterone injection could push them out of leadership roles. Others see it as galvanizing, a sign that women are making serious progress.
"The masks and the gloves are off."
Anti-Amazon avengers, assemble!
Fertnig/Getty, Amazon, Ava Horton/BI
"If a billionaire can steal from me, I can scrape a little off the top, too." That's how one person justifies stealing little treats from Whole Foods.
Middle-class shoplifters and thieves of opportunity are fudging Amazon returns and sneaking Whole Foods goods to stick it to The Man — whose name, in this case, is Jeff Bezos. The problem is that small-time swiping doesn't actually effect the change these anti-Amazon avengers want to see.
Worse, it could be causing unintended harm.
This week's quote:
"We are catching a lot of balls, with very little people. Eventually one of them is probably going to fall."
— A NOAA employee concerned about how DOGE's job cuts at the agency will affect extreme weather alerts and air travel forecasts.
More of this week's top reads:
- Elon Musk says xAI acquired X in an all-stock deal.
- Tech has a new power base in DC.
- Warren Buffett is totally crushing it this year.
- TikTok insiders say Chinese leadership is cracking down on its US e-commerce team after missing goals.
- How OpenAI's Ghibli frenzy took a dark turn real fast.
- Secret home listings are about to skyrocket.
- Trump tariffs: 39 imported cars and trucks that are likely to see price hikes.
- Florida may abolish property taxes. Here's what they are in every state.
- The fight against Trump's 'unprecedented' attack on Big Law is on.
VCs are in a 'frenzy' to invest in Anduril, but good luck getting ahold of shares.
The BI Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago.