If you have to die, and I’m told we all must, try to work at Google just before the big event happens. That’s because your spouse or domestic partner will get half your salary for the next TEN YEARS. But surely you have to be a long-tenured Google employee to make that happen, right? Wrong! Anyone who has been working there for any amount of time is eligible. Forbes talked to Google’s Chief People Officer (yep, that’s his title) Laszlo Bock:
“One of the things we realized recently was that one of the harshest but most reliable facts of life is that at some point most of us will be confronted with the death of our partners,” Bock says. “And it’s a horrible, difficult time no matter what, and every time we went through this as a company we tried to find ways to help the surviving spouse of the Googler who’d passed away.” The case-by-case do-goodery was formally implemented in 2011. In addition to the 10-year pay package, surviving spouses will see all stocks vested immediately and any children will receive a $1,000 monthly payment from the company until they reach the age of 19 (or 23 if the child is a full-time student).
I should point out that the headline on that Forbes article is “Here’s What Happens to Google Employees When They Die” and it’s a bit misleading since we’re not entirely sure. But it does talk about what happens to the surviving family members.
But this does tell us that a few things are possible. One, Google might just be full of really great folks. Two, Google has a ton of money. Three, it’s a competitive hiring environment in tech and Google needs to offer some pretty great benefits to attract and retain top (living) talent.
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