Early Christmas gift for Google staff

Technology firm Google gave its employees an early Christmas present when it announced it would give staff a pay rise from next year.

Full and part-time employees throughout the business are to get a 10 per cent pay rise from January 1st. The company also promised to pay staff a cash bonus this Christmas.

The increase in pay was announced in an internal memo circulated to staff. The confidential email from chief executive Eric Schmidt informed employees that there would also be some changes to the bonus structure .

“We’ve heard from your feedback on Googlegeist and other surveys that salary is more important to you than any other component of pay,” the email, which was published on Business Insider, said.

“To address that, we’re moving a portion of your bonus into your base salary, so now it’s income you can count on, every time you get your paycheck.”

Google employs almost 1,700 people in Ireland and had almost 20,000 full-time staff at the end of last year. In the third quarter of this year, the company added more than 1,500 employees to its payroll.

The company was saying little about the leaked email today, issuing only a short statement.

“While we don't typically comment on internal matters, we do believe that competitive compensation plans are important to the future of the company," Google said.

Last month, Google’s chief financial officer Patrick Pichette told analysts the internet industry is waging a "war for talent".