Google paid some male workers less than women, audit finds
A Google review of its employee compensation found that the tech giant was paying some men less than women for the same job, results that run counter to many other U.S. businesses where salary discrepancies tend to adversely impact female workers.
The pay equity analysis, which the Mountain View, California-based firm has conducted every year since 2012, attributed the gap to low-level male engineers receiving less discretionary funds than their female counterparts.
Google ultimately paid $9.7 million to provide a salary adjustment to 10,677 of its workers. And starting this year, the company also said it will conduct a review of its policies on promotions and performance ratings to “make sure the outcomes are fair and equitable for all employees.”
“Compensation should be based on what you do, not who you are,” Google pay equity analyst Lauren Barbato wrote in a blog post.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOOGL | ALPHABET INC. | 167.63 | -8.35 | -4.74% |
Companies in all industries are under pressure to ensure pay equity between both genders and races. Earlier this year, Citigroup found that its female employees earn nearly 30 percent less than their male counterparts, and minority workers make 7 percent less.
But the tech sector has faced outsized scrutiny and a number of high-profile lawsuits on the issue. Google, for example, is facing a class-action suit after the Department of Labor revealed in an audit that the firm discriminates against its female workers.
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The company faced additional criticism in 2018 when it was revealed that Android co-founder Andy Rubin received $90 million in severance pay after leaving Google amid allegations of sexual misconduct against a female co-worker.