Delhi, May 04: Google CEO Sundar Pichai earned $226 million in compensation in 2022. Close to $218 million were in stock awards and the rest was salary and other income. This comes as Google parent Alphabet has been aggressively cutting costs, including the elimination of 12,000 jobs, in response to slowing revenue growth.

CNBC reported that the employees are not happy with the developments and have taken to internal platforms to voice their disapproval, with many circulating memes comparing Pichai's compensation to other CEOs who took pay cuts amid job losses.

The employees are critical of the fact that the Alphabet chief did not take a pay cut himself in the midst of mass reduction of Google staff. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai Took Home USD 226 Million in 2022 Amid Layoffs at Google.

“Ruth’s cost savings applied to everyone… except our hardworking VPS and CEO,” read one post on an internal Google employees forum. Another read “Sundar accepting $226 million while laying off 12k Googlers, cutting perks, and destroying morale and culture.” Google Planning Another Round of Layoffs? CEO Sundar Pichai Has This to Say on More Job Cuts At The Tech Giant.

The employees are frustrated with Google’s plan to repurchase $70 billion in stock as they see it as a sign of company has more than enough cash to cover its operations and investments.

Pichai has been under fire for his recent decision-making, and in January he took "full responsibility" for conditions that led to company-wide layoffs.

Earlier this month, hundreds of Google employees staged a walkout at the company’s London offices following a dispute over mass layoffs. This came after more than 200 Google workers were laid off from the company's Zurich offices, prompting a walkout by employees in March.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 04, 2023 04:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).