Facebook may not be considered as Google's main rival but the social network is so big now that other tech companies are afraid their employees might be tempted to move to Menlo Park.
Google and Facebook seem to be in a recruitment battle. There is a talk going around that the search company is ready to counter-offer Facebook's offers to any of its employees being lured by the social media company.
The issue at hand came out after e-mails were released about the supposed conspiracy case between the Silicon Valley companies like Google, Apple, Adobe, and Intel. Former employees are accusing the companies that they agreed not to recruit each other's workers.
The lawsuit mentioned that these tech companies don't want to be played against one another so they don't have to raise the current salaries. The case is already in court but Judge Lucy Koh has not made a decision yet on the $324 million settlement. However, she posted documents regarding the issue.
"Google is open to significantly enhancing the offers to candidates who also have offers from Facebook... within an hour to Googlers who give notice about getting a Facebook offer," reads an e-mail forwarded by Google engineering manager Vigay Gill.
"Since I announced our 1 hour policy exactly 24 hours ago we should be embarrassed and disgusted by this leak," said Eric Schmidt, Google executive, in an e-mail.
Google's one-hour policy to counter-offer employees offered jobs by Facebook may seem like a desperate attempt but if true, it could mean Google is only serious not to lose its employees. But then again, the 64,000 workers in tech companies are not too happy with the rule.
Facebook isn't included in the conspiracy so it could be aggressive in offering jobs to Google employees. On the other hand, Google is also believed to be recruiting Facebook employees and the execs themselves are reaching out to them. No evidence has turned up though.
Competition among the tech companies in Silicon Valley is getting tighter each day. Each one is fighting to get the best employee that hiring practices need to be reviewed by the court. Facebook can afford to be aggressive because it's not included in the agreement but that has not been established.
