Google gives employee 300 per cent pay hike to stop him from joining rival AI company

The CEO of Perplexity AI, Aravind Srinivas, has brought attention to the extent that major tech firms, like Google, would go to in order to keep their workforces. 

This was discussed on the Big Technology Podcast. 

Srinivas described a particular incident in which Google promised to increase an employee's pay by four times, or by 300 per cent, in exchange for the person contemplating a job at Perplexity AI.

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Although the employee in issue was not directly associated with Google's AI division and was a member of the search team, the firm decided that it was imperative to make a substantial raise in his offer in order to keep him from leaving. Srinivas, who graduated from IIT Madras, expressed his surprise that Google was ready to make such a significant increase in the offer.

Srinivas also mentioned the subject of IT industry layoffs. According to him, it's unclear what standards businesses employ to decide who gets fired. He said he has heard that firms may target high-paid individuals who don't contribute substantially to production. He made the point that workers at places like Google are able to take long vacations without it negatively impacting the business, but there appears to be a change in the direction of paying closer attention to productivity rather than remuneration.