As one of the biggest tech companies in the world, Google has become infamous for its small yet devastating mistakes. And as the company tries to move forward for the image that has been set for it, it happens to find itself under the spotlight again.
While this error may seem fairly small at first, the truth of the matter is that even surprisingly smaller numbers can have major consequences for investors. The mistake in question is Google making an error in calculating stock severance for staff it laid off.
Apart from the cruel irony of one of the biggest companies working on AI making a mistake in something as basic as calculation, what made the situation even worse was that calculation for severance pay had to go to employees at google who were laid off.
So other than losing their jobs, they had to deal with the fact that the company almost paid them off with incorrect severance packages. Therefore, the internet spared no time piling on to google who made such a decision.
Informing Sacked Employees about the Issue
The major tech corporation was quick to inform all of the employees that it laid off about the different issues at hand and how they had incorrectly calculated the stocks that they would be receiving as severance.
Over 12,000 people were laid off from Google, and each of them received a very similar email. While the severance package is one of the best in the industry, somehow, the incorrect numbers managed to make it through upper management and to all of the sacked employees.
Even though Google was quick to inform all the laid-off employees about the incorrect values, it did not stop individuals from taking them to task over it. Tweets started to follow as an ex-employee at Google took to the Elon-owned site to talk about it.
Business Insider specifically talked to one of the google employees who was unfortunately laid off in the major announcement that the company made. The informant preferred to remain anonymous but laid his frustrations bare about the less-than-expected severance pay.
According to the statement that the individual gave to Business insider, they were receiving 40% less stock than the agreed-upon amount. For them and many others, this was a second kick in the chest over the course of three weeks.
How They Made the Mistake
Given the size of a firm like Google, it seems unlikely that it would make such a big mistake at such a massive scale. However, according to an official statement that Google released, the miscalculation was a direct result of the double counting of the stock grants.
By doing so, they were giving their employees 40% less stock severance than they deserved. Another major issue with the miscalculated severance package is that people could possibly receive tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars less than the agreed amount.
Other employees have said that their sending two emails created more confusion than necessary. The proceeding email did not feature enough clarity about how much fewer people were making with the original ones and what did they change the severance too.
Taking Care of Their Employees
Another report from a former google engineer said that the company was initially giving all of its employees severance packages, which did feel like a lot but seemed more like an effort to take care of their employees.
While they were already on the receiving end of a bad deal, many of the staff members companies that Google should have been more careful when discussing the severance package issue beforehand.
Google has been known for its incredible benefits and salaries, which often beat out other types of companies in the process. But following the stock revision, what initially felt like a lot turned out to be much less than they expected.