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What Happens To Google Employees When They Die?

Posted by timothy on from the water-returns-to-the-seitch dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "Forbes Magazine reports that employee benefits of Google are among the best in the land—free haircuts, gourmet food, on-site doctors and high-tech "cleansing" toilets are among the most talked-about but the latest perk for Googlers extends into the afterlife. 'This might sound ridiculous,' says Google's Chief People Officer Laszlo Bock, 'But we've announced death benefits at Google.' Should a U.S. Googler pass away while under the employ of the 14-year old search giant, their surviving spouse or domestic partner will receive a check for 50% of their salary every year for the next decade. Even more surprising, a Google spokesperson confirms that there's 'no tenure requirement' for this benefit, meaning most of their 34 thousand Google employees qualify."

6 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. mere life insurance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is mere marketroid speak for life insurance.
    My company, in the finanacial sector, subsidizes almost-free life insurance (~$20/month) that pays out 5x my salary - which is more or less 50% over tens years.
    Had they need of attracting talent, they could swallow that lously $20 and just market it as FREE MONEY.

    1. Re:mere life insurance by canadian_right · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Most life insurance is a one time payment. You can invest it, but generally it would not provide 50% of your salary for 10 years. I would call it a small pension.

      Typical company life insurance is double your current salary paid in one lump sum. Ten years at 50% is five times your salary.

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  2. Re:It's called insurance, right? by vandelais · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, it's worse than insurance. The company pays, so it's taxable to the recipient.

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  3. Average employee age by hierofalcon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd suspect that the average age of an employee at Google or most tech companies is so low compared to the rest of the business world that they expect to rarely pay out anything. If most of their workforce were expected to stick around till retirement age and it would actually cost them significant bucks due to natural causes versus accidental causes, I doubt they would be offering this benefit.

    Just my cynical 2c worth

  4. Re:It's called insurance, right? by symbolset · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How did I know that someone would be here hating on Google even for this.

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  5. Re:It's called insurance, right? by fm6 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It isn't google-hating to say that their shit smells. I admire a lot of what Google does, and I particularly admire their desire to innovate bleeding edge tech all over the place. But I also get tired of some of the stupid shit they pull. And although it doesn't affect me, this idea of offering glorified insurance to their employees strikes me as particularly dumb.

    I'm into Android, and I am duly grateful that Google has created the only really open phone platform out there. But I'm pessimistic about its success because they keep totally redesigning the whole thing, because the development tools are barely beta quality, and because market fragmentation means you have to code for 2-year-old versions of the platform.

    I'm grateful that Google exists, but I do wish they'd grow up already.