GOOGLE CUTS BACK YEAR-END BONUSES

Google on 23 Dec began handing out mobile smartphones rather than cash as a year-end present to its staff, in a move that reflects an effort by the company to pare the cost of its famously lavish employee perks.

The internet search group is to give most of its 20,100 employees around the world the G1, the first handset to be powered by Google's new mobile operating system, known as "Android".

News of the handout came in an internal memo that first appeared on Valleywag, a blog, and was later confirmed by the company.

In past years Google has given all of its employees a year-end cash present, which one person close to the company put at about $1,000. The company also hands out performance-related bonuses in the form of restricted stock and cash and these would be paid as normal early next year, the person close to Google said.

Trimming back perks when times get tough can have a disproportionately big impact on morale, as other wealthy technology companies have found in the past and Google's founders have themselves warned.

When Microsoft embarked on its first company-wide cost-cutting plan earlier this decade, a decision to remove towels from corporate shower rooms became a focal point of employee dissatisfaction. The company later reinstated the towel service.

Google has trod carefully since starting several months ago to put a tighter lid on its fast-growing costs. For instance, some of the restaurants at its headquarters in Silicon Valley now close earlier in the evening, though employees working late can still find somewhere on site to get a free meal, the company says.

Cutting back perks can be "penny wise and pound foolish" when they "save employees considerable time and improve their health and productivity", Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google's founders, wrote at the time of the company's initial public offering in 2004.

Google listed 17 countries where the handset cannot be used - including China and India - and said workers in these countries will receive about $400 instead. About 85 per cent of employees will be given the G1.

　　 谷歌员工年终礼物--现金变手机

今年12月23日，作为年终礼物，谷歌(Google)开始向员工派送智能手机、而非现金。这反映出该公司正努力削减其出名慷慨的员工福利成本。

这家互联网搜索公司将向全球2.01万名员工中的多数人发放G1手机，这是第一款采用该公司最新移动操作系统Android的手机。

上述消息来自于一份公司内部备忘录，它最先出现在博客Valleywag上，随后得到谷歌的证实。

过去几年，谷歌一直以现金作为所有员工的年终礼物，一位熟悉该公司的人士称，礼金数额在1000美元左右。他表示，谷歌还以限制性股票和现金的方式，发放绩效奖金，按照惯例将在明年年初发放。

在困难时期削减福利可能会对员工士气产生较大的影响，其它有钱的科技公司曾发现这个问题，而谷歌创始人自己也曾就此发出警告。

2000年以来的早些时候，微软(Microsoft)首次实行全公司范围内的成本削减计划，当时取消公司淋浴室毛巾服务的决定曾成为令员工不满的焦点问题。该公司随后恢复了毛巾服务。

自几个月前开始加大力度控制快速上升的成本以来，谷歌一直谨慎行事。例如，该公司表示，位于硅谷(Silicon Valley)公司总部的一些餐馆现在晚上闭店时间提前，不过工作到很晚的员工仍可以就近找到其它餐馆享受免费就餐待遇。

谷歌创始人谢尔盖•布林(Sergey Brin)和拉里•佩奇(Larry Page)曾在2004年公司上市时写道，如果员工福利能够"节省员工大量时间并改善他们的健康状况和生产率"，那么削减福利就可能"因小失大"。

谷歌列出了17个这款手机不能使用的国家--包括中国和印度--并表示，这些国家的员工将获得约400美元现金。该公司约85%的员工将得到G1手机。
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