Google executives reportedly faced a slew of difficult compensation questions at a recent city hall meeting, while a separate controversy over the removal of bidets from corporate restrooms has roiled the tech giant’s workforce.
At a virtual public meeting earlier this month, CEO Sundar Pichai and other executives faced numerous angry questions about salary dissatisfaction, according to a CNBC report Thursday.
This comes after Google announced last summer that it would be cutting pay packages for employees who choose to work remotely on a full-time basis to adjust their compensation to match the local market they live in.
Meanwhile, employees who plan to return to the office next month are outraged that luxurious heated bidets are being removed from the restrooms of Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, as per protocol.
A Google spokesperson contacted by declined to discuss the bidet issue, but said: “We know our employees have a lot of job options, so we’re working to ensure they get very good wages.”
At a virtual meeting earlier this month, CEO Sundar Pichai and other executives faced a slew of angry questions about salary dissatisfaction.
Other employees are outraged that Google is removing bidets like the one shown above from their California offices, apparently to save water.
Apparently, the bidet theme has dominated Google’s internal employee bulletin board, where employees post memes.
One of the memes reviewed by Protocol read: “Removing the bidet in the office is my #2 problem with RTO (return to office).”
“I was reading memes and found out that bidets were removed from California offices?!” — wrote one of the employees of Google on Twitter. ‘I’m sad.’
For years, Toto’s high-tech bidets and heated seats have been one of the treasured perks of working at Google.
Bidets are first being removed from offices in the Bay Area and later in the rest of California, with employees speculating that the move has something to do with building codes in the state.
Google facilities specialist Edgar Tovar reportedly responded to internal concerns about the removal of the bidet by explaining that the move is in line with Google’s environmental goals.
For years, visitors to Google offices have admired high-tech bidets in their bathrooms.
“Removing the bidet seat has the added benefit of supporting Google’s commitment to water sustainability,” Tovar wrote. “Many of our buildings are transitioning to recycled water systems that cannot support a bidet.”
Google has asked employees to return to their US offices in the week of April 4, but has put in place a plan to allow up to 20% of employees to remain remote permanently.
Separately, at City Hall’s virtual meeting earlier this month, several of the top questions asked by staff related to compensation.
Referring to a recent employee survey that showed only 46 percent satisfaction with compensation, the one question with the most votes contained the following question: “Questions related to compensation showed the biggest decline from last year, as you can imagine, why is that so?
According to CNBC, Google VP of Total Rewards Bret Hill responded by saying, “There are some macro trends in play.”
Staff are furious that luxury heated bidets are being removed from the restrooms of Google’s headquarters (above) in Mountain View, California.
“It’s a very competitive market and you’ve probably heard anecdotal stories of colleagues getting better deals at other companies,” he added.
Hill said people are “feeling the effects of inflation in their lives” and “dealing with location changes and their consequences,” referring to pay cuts for some remote workers.
A Google spokesperson told on Friday that the company is prioritizing providing “very good pay” to employees.
“That’s why we’ve always provided the highest market compensation in wages, capital, vacation and benefits package,” the spokesman said in a statement.
“Getting employee feedback is important, and we will continue to provide competitive pay wherever our employees work and help them grow their careers at Google.”