Google to Give Workers More Stock Awards

Google Inc., the most-used Internet search engine, will give more stock to teams of employees to reward performance and retain and motivate workers.

Stock grants worth about $12 million have already been given to two teams of employees, and Google will make awards of a similar size to two or three other groups, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin wrote Wednesday in their annual letter to shareholders that was posted on the company’s website.

Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., said Feb. 9 that it was having difficulty finding qualified job candidates. By giving employees so-called Founders’ Awards of stock worth millions, Google intends to match the income that workers could make by starting their own companies.

“The Founders’ Award is designed to give extraordinary rewards for extraordinary team accomplishments,” Brin and Page said in their first letter to shareholders. “A general rule of thumb is that the team accomplished something that created enormous value for Google.”

The company’s shares fell $1.48 to $191.45 in Nasdaq trading. The stock has more than doubled since Google’s initial public offering in August.