The company has apparently donated $30 million worth of Chromebooks, phones and associated tech support to schools on its employees’ behalf.
It’s known to all that the employee perks at Google are fabulous, and with a cherry on the top, there’s always a holiday gift for every employee. In the past, the company has surprised its 70,000 employees with Nexus phones, Android smartwatches and Chromebooks. This holiday season, however, is going to be different for these employees.
Like every other year, this year too they hoped they might get Google’s new Pixel phones or a Google Home unit, the company’s competitor to Amazon’s Echo. However, while they did apparently receive a gift, it was in the form of an e-mail informing employees that their holiday gift this year was a donation to charity. The company has apparently donated $30 million worth of Chromebooks, phones, and associated tech support to schools on behalf of its employees.
This move, which may at first look like a cost-cutting gimmick, is actually a big transformation in terms of company ethics, values and culture. As Google converts into Alphabet, this move may also be symbolic of a shift in culture for the company, from being a mere perks-enjoying workforce to one comprising responsible corporate citizens. Since Alphabet would have spent around the same amount of money on its holiday gifts, it’s not exactly a cost-saving move.