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Amazon more than doubles base pay cap for corporate and tech employees
With the US labor market getting tighter and employees changing jobs or quitting in droves, Amazon has made a big move to become more competitive.
Google sued by female ex-employees over pay discrimination
Google's salary practices are back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Three women who worked for the company are suing over gender-based wage discrimination. The plaintiffs claim Google knew about the pay inequalities (or, at least, should have been aware of them). The suit -- filed on Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court -- aims to represent the thousands of Google employees in California, and seeks lost wages and a slice of the company's profits.
Google has the best-paid CEO in the US
Google is an enormous company by most standards, but it now has one more notch under its belt: the US' best-paid CEO. A company SEC filing has revealed that Sundar Pichai received the equivalent of $199 million in stock earlier in February, giving him a total $650 million stake in Alphabet. He won't get to cash that in all at once (the shares vest in quarterly phases through 2019), but that's a lot of money for three years' work. In comparison, Apple's Tim Cook got "just" $376.2 million when he assumed the CEO role.
WageSpot app wants you to see the salaries of everyone around
If you're on the hunt for a job, chances are good that getting a decent raise is part of your plan. Or at the very least, it's worth doing some research to figure out what others doing similar work are getting paid, so you can make sure you're getting what you're worth. There are a host of services for doing such research, particularly Glassdoor, but a new company called WageSpot thinks it can do an even better job of bringing its users smart salary data. The main focus for the WageSpot Android and iOS app that launches today is location-based salary data -- not only can you see what other engineers are making, you'll be able to see what ones in your city are making, and you can zoom in down to the individual level and literally see how much others near you are paid.
Research confirms minorities earn significantly less in skilled tech jobs
There's no denying that wage inequality is a terrible thing, and it's not just limited to blue-collar trades. The tech industry's so-called high-skilled positions -- like programmers and developers -- pay minorities much less than their Caucasian colleagues. Sure, the issue is certainly nothing new, but a recent USA Today report details the finer points, with figures from the American Institute for Economic Research. According to that latter outfit's findings, on average Hispanic males earn $16,353 less than white males per year, with Asian males making $8,146 less and black males netting $3,656 less, respectively, in those tech jobs. Of course, women face similar issues in terms of salary, on top of being massively outnumbered when it comes to positions in Silicon Valley. In fact, females in each ethnicity group researched earned less than their male counterparts. While companies are looking to combat the gender gap with mentor programs and more, the inconsistency in earnings is also a huge issue that needs to be tackled for both men and women across a range of ethnicities.
Activision's Kotick is now among the highest-paid CEOs in the US [Update]
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is now among the highest-paid CEOs in the United States, Bloomberg reported. According to a document filed to the SEC, Activision increased Kotick's compensation to $64.9 million in 2012. The majority of Kotick's earnings came from stock awards valued at $55.9 million. By comparison, Kotick earned $8.3 million in 2011, and Blizzard Entertainment President and CEO Michael Morhaime earned just over $9 million in 2012.As Bloomberg noted, Kotick's $64.9 million earnings stretch out over five years, plus he could still garner $16 million more should he meet the "highest performance targets." Kotick saw his base salary increase to $2.1 million in January this year.Update: To clarify, since the awards vest over a five-year period, Kotick received $8.33 million in compensation for 2012, not all $64.9 million.
Sharp further cuts bonuses and salaries to stay above water, save $180 million
Sharp is already in full-on belt-tightening mode, and it's not just cutting jobs to keep its staffing costs in line with shrinking finances. The sinking tech giant is doubling the size of executives' salary cuts to 10 percent for a year-long period, all the while slashing planned 2013 bonuses to half of what they were in June. Sadly, everyday workers will have to take some of the same medicine. They're facing similar bonus cuts and will have to take a 7 percent drop in salary for the same year. Between these steps and cuts to extras like travel allowances, Sharp hopes to save ¥14 billion in the current fiscal year, or about $180 million -- a small amount next to the $2 billion in credit the company just recently obtained, but also a sign of just how much penny-pinching is involved in keeping the corporate ship afloat. Let's hope the sacrifice pays off.
Square-Enix ranks highest in average salary for Japanese game companies
If making the most money is a top priority when choosing which gaming company to work for (as if working on games isn't enough!), the go-to company in Japan is Square-Enix. According to Nensyu Labo, a company that analyzes salary and income in the island nation, Square-Enix ranks at the top of gaming companies for average annual salary. And the race wasn't close, either; employees at the company that brings us Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV make on average more than twice as much a year as the next closest competitor, Sony -- 21.68 million yen ($273,057) to 9.23 million yen ($116,253). For a look at what other companies made the top 10 list, check out the rankings.
Lawsuit outs West and Zampella's salaries, bonuses at Infinity Ward: Projected $13M bonus in 2010
Former Infinity Ward studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella had projected salaries of $420,000 in 2009, with projected bonuses of more than $3 million each, emails between Activision bosses in 2009 show.The spreadsheet lists the expected salaries of the top 20 Infinity Ward employees in 2009 and 2010. The 18 remaining employees -- the bulk including software engineers and game designers -- had projected salaries between $71,500 and $173,000. The seven employees under West and Zampella each expected a bonus of $603,000, while staffers seeing the lowest percentage of the bonus pool (1.5 percent) had a projected $278,000.In 2010, the year Activision fired West and Zampella, they were each expected to earn $437,000, with projected bonuses of $13 million each. The rest of the top 20's projected salaries and bonuses rose accordingly, with salaries between $74,000 and $180,000, and bonuses ranging from $1.4 million to $2.5 million."If you recently worked on a hit FPS, read this and see how incredibly underpaid you are," ngmoco general manager Benjamin Cousins tweeted about the documents.The emails were released into public record in the lawsuit between the Infinity Ward Employee Group and Activision; West and Zampella sued Activision in 2010 claiming they were owed $36 million in royalties associated with Modern Warfare 2, after Activision fired them earlier that year. West and Zampella now claim $1 billion in damages and the case is set for trial May 29.
Sprint CEO takes pay cut as investors voice concern about cost of iPhone deal
Sprint Nextel's $15.5 billion gamble on Apple's iPhone will apparently lighten CEO Dan Hesse's proverbial wallet by $3.25 million this year. That's how much compensation Hesse agreed to give back to help placate investors unhappy about the high cost of the company's iPhone deal. Securing the iPhone has already paid dividends for Sprint in terms of sales. The company sold 1.5 million iPhones in the first quarter while posting a net subscriber growth of 263,000. That didn't stop Sprint from posting an $863 million net loss during the same period, however, causing some investors to grumble about the cost of subsidizing Apple's phone. The subsidy Sprint pays for each iPhone is 40 percent higher -- about $200 -- than what the company pays for other competing devices. Don't feel too bad for Hesse, though. Apparently, the financial gesture basically brings back his "compensation target opportunities" to 2010 levels.
2011's game industry salary stats push us once more toward business school
With this week's annual release of Game Developer Magazine's "Game Industry Salary Survey Results," we're once again reminded that game industry professionals – on average – make kind of a lot of money. How does approximately $81,192 per year sound to you? Sounds pretty damn good to us as well, and that's the average take home for people across a variety of disciplines: business/legal, programming, production, sound/art/video, design, writing, and QA. Despite the survey having existed for 11 years now, it still doesn't include the press (though you can tell from our cushy leather chairs that we're clearly doing all right).But who is making the biggest bucks, you ask? Unsurprisingly, the "business/legal" category brings home the most dough on average, pulling in approximately $102,160 annually. Similarly unsurprising, QA testers pick up the bottom end of the scale, earning around $47,910 on average. Salaries on both the high and low end dropped a bit compared with last year's survey, but not by much more than the 2.4 percent margin of error.The survey's data was once again culled from respondents across the game industry in North America, the UK, and the EU, as well as a sizable chunk of indies/independent contractors (though the salary averages are pulled specifically from US-only data). Outliers – folks making dramatically more or less than the average – were removed from results before averaging "to prevent them from unnaturally skewing the averages." That sounds like another good reason not to include game journo salaries!
THQ CEO Farrell takes 50% pay cut, board of directors also takes cuts
THQ is definitely experiencing some troubles related to its uDraw flop and subsequent layoffs, as evidenced by a new document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.President and CEO Brian Farrell will take a pay cut for the year starting February 15, which reduces his salary from $718,500 to $359,250. His salary will go back up the next year.His golden parachute has also been tailored a bit more closely, as the payment he'd receive upon departure from the company (either termination "without cause" or resignation with "good reason") has been cut from three times his highest-ever bonus to just his highest-ever bonus. This is, of course, a small sacrifice compared to the THQ employees whose salaries went from "some" to "none."The board of directors is also seeing some cuts: all the other directors have "elected" to receive 50% less cash compensation for a year effective today.
Game developer salaries in 2010 tracked, fills us once more with regret
The Game Developer Research group, somehow sensing that we were having a pretty good day, decided to release a portion of its 10th annual, always soul-crushing Game Developer Salary Survey. The information, according to Gamasutra, is fairly optimistic: Traditional mainstream developers are pulling down an average salary of $80,817, a 7 percent increase over last year's average. Indie developers saw a year-to-year increase of around $6,000, bringing their average wages up to $26,780. Many of the average wages earned by individual disciplines remained equivalent to last year's totals, with some exceptions. Programmers saw their average salaries increased $5,000 over 2009, to a total of $85,733. Producers' average salaries increased almost $13,000 year-to-year, for an average of $88,544. Quality assurance testers saw their average wages get fairly prodigiously bumped from $37,905 in 2009 up to $49,009 in 2010. And, of course, the whammy: Business and legal employees made an average salary of $106,452, with 85 percent of survey respondents reporting they received additional compensation. If you need us, we'll be over in the corner, questioning our every life decision.
FT subsidizes employee iPads, wants them to keep up with the times
You know tablets have officially become a mainstream craze when even the reserved, serious types over at the Financial Times start splashing subsidies around to stimulate their ownership. We've just heard that a $480 purse of gold coins will be extended to any FT workers who decide to purchase an iPad or another tablet between now and the end of June 2011, reportedly in an effort to help the paper's staff become "expert and experienced in using them." We already knew the FT, which happens to have its own iPad and Galaxy Tab apps, saw slate devices as an important piece of the puzzle that is our future, and this move cements that attitude in place. Paper's dead, long live electronics-filled plastic.
Nintendo CEO Iwata doesn't earn as much as you'd think
We never thought we'd say this about a CEO (it just feels wrong), but Nintendo's Satoru Iwata totally deserves a raise. The CEO's base salary last year was a measly ¥68 million (about $770K), with the executive taking home ¥187 ($2.1 million) after a performance bonus. Nintendo, as a company last year, made roughly $2.45 billion in profit! Nintendo guru Shigeru Miyamoto, along with a group of five other board members, apparently earned just ¥100 million ($1.13 million) total. These guys have to be making more money from stocks or something. Andriasang reports the salary revelations are thanks to a new Japanese law requiring companies to reveal any board members' earnings over ¥100 million ($1.13 million). For comparison, Square Enix's Yoichi Wada collected ¥240 million ($2.7 million), while Sony's Sir Howard Stringer, heading a company that admittedly extends way beyond games, pulled in a cool ¥816.5 million ($9.2 million). As for some CEO salaries from around the world, according to Forbes (via GI.biz), Activision Blizzard's Bobby Kotick is guesstimated to have made $3.15 million in 2009 and EA's John Riccitiello allegedly took home $9.85 million.
Chinese government to make Foxconn suicide findings public
We've been struggling to wrap our heads 'round this whole Foxconn imbroglio since the beginning, and while we're pretty skeptical about any official reports we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that the Human Resources and Social Security Ministry in China was looking into the thing, and that they'll be releasing the findings somewhat soonish. According to Vice Minister Zhang Xiaojian, recent strikes at various factories including Brother and Honda (strikes seemingly sparked by the Foxconn incidents) do not constitute "a 'wave' of unrest." Well, that's good -- for business owners, at least. And while the families of the Foxconn suicides maintain that long hours, low pay, and harsh management are to be blamed, Zhang added that "the psychological problems of the workers" can be added to the list. Psychological problems caused by low pay, long hours, and harsh management, perhaps? [Thanks, Xinh]
Foxconn axes suicide compensation, relocating some production to Vietnam or Taiwan
At yesterday's annual shareholder meeting, Foxconn revealed that it'll no longer be compensating families of dead employees as a move to discourage further suicides. CEO Terry Gou reasoned by exhibiting evidence that showed the money -- an amount almost equivalent to ten years' worth of salary -- was a major motivation for the suicides. One such exhibit was a man's suicide letter that contained the following message for his parents: "...now I'm going to jump off Foxconn, really leaving now, but you don't have to be sad, because Foxconn will pay a bit of money, this is all your son can repay you now." Gou also blamed a possible "Werther Effect" created by the news coverage, which might have led to six of the twelve suicides all taking place in May. Consequently, the company will be handing over its welfare management work to the local Chinese government, as it's unable to deal with too many social responsibilities. In the same meeting, the company made an unsurprising announcement that it's looking to relocate some manufacturing work, amid a worsened earnings forecast due to increased wages -- basic salary has gone up from ¥900 ($132) to ¥1,200 ($176), rising to as much as ¥2,000 ($293) for those who meet new performance criteria. This will involve setting up a fully automated facility in either Taiwan or Vietnam, while the existing Vietnamese plant will be receiving more orders. Chairman Samuel Chen also said that Foxconn will be working with its clients to share the load -- no further details on this, but we suspect Apple's rumored direct subsidies are part of the plan.
Foxconn offers additional 66 percent raise, pending mysterious performance review
Though working conditions at Hon Hai Precision Industry may or may not have improved since Foxconn CEO Terry Gou showed off the pool, pay most certainly has. Where workers once made 900 yuan (about $132) per month, Reuters reports that should workers pass a three-month review, they could pull in 2,000 yuan ($293) in the same period. However, Foxconn's not saying what would qualify an individual for the review. Even should they not pass, wages will be 30 percent higher than before the company's labor scandals were brought to light, and before a string of twelve laborers reportedly committed suicide.
Foxconn increases wages by 30 percent as deaths continue to mount
According to Reuters, Foxconn will be raising worker wages an additional 10% from the original 20% raise announced last week. Foxconn spokesman, Arthur Huang, said that the 30% base wage increase takes effect immediately. Foxconn admits that it hopes to earn the respect of its workers and raise efficiency with the pay increase while offsetting rising costs on the Chinese mainland. The company's shares fell by 2% following the announcement (in a market down just 0.4%, relatively), worried perhaps that the raise would erode operating profits. All this comes as more Foxconn deaths -- now at 12 -- are being reported. Family of Yan Li, a Foxconn engineer, claims that their son died of exhaustion after working non-stop for 34-hours, then returning for another 12-hours after a 10-hour break. Police have already ruled out suicide and homicide in the case. Nevertheless, Yan Li's family is demanding 250,000 yuan (about 25 times the worker's annual base salary) in compensation. Foxconn accepts no responsibility in the matter saying it would only pay out "humanitarian terms" to the family.
Foxconn raising wages, relocating 20 percent of Shenzhen workers closer to home (updated)
After a string of highly localized suicides at Foxconn's manufacturing campus captured the world's attention -- again -- the company has decided to increase worker wages by about 20 percent. Foxconn says that the pay raise had been planned for some time but did not say when it would be implemented. Mind you, a 20% bump in the third quarter is not unusual as Foxconn ramps up production for the holidays. In fact, Foxconn has given raises by as much as 50% in the past according to Vincent Chen, analyst at Yuanta Securities in Taipei. At the moment, Foxconn entry-level line workers are paid 900 yuan (about $131.80) per month -- remuneration that exceeds the local minimum wage in the area. And that's before bonuses and that oh-so tempting overtime pay are factored in. It's also worth noting that Foxconn is said by a factory worker surnamed Wang, to pay 100,000 yuan (about 10 times a worker's annual base salary) to families of suicide victims -- a sum he says has tempted some to their death. Update: CEO Terry Guo is being quoted as saying that Foxconn plans to relocate some facilities and about a fifth of its Shenzhen workforce (that's about 80,000 people based on the 400k estimates tossed around) to western parts of China so that the workers can be closer to their families. Meanwhile, Sony, Nokia, and Nintendo, all Foxconn customers, have joined Apple, Dell, and HP in expressing their public concern over the working conditions in Foxconn.
