- Google will no longer take job candidates' word for it if they claim they have a competing job offer.
- Recruiters will now ask to see offer letters before raising Google's offer, The Information reported.
- The move is unusual for applicants who are not seeking an executive-level position.
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Amid an extraordinarily tight job market that is pushing wages higher, Google will now require candidates to prove they have a competing job offer before considering an increase in salary, according to The Information.
Company emails seen by The Information show recruiters asking candidates for documentary evidence in the form of actual letters or screenshots of letters before discussing changes to a compensation package.
In the past, such proof was only required for executive-level prospects, but Google has made more requests this year as a result of company switching among tech workers.
The employee movement has more people asking for a higher salary range, so employers are asking for harder evidence to justify paying it, Zaheer Mohiuddin, who co-founded a consultancy that helps tech workers negotiate offers, told The Information.
If a candidate declines to submit a written offer for review, Google's compensation team may not bother trying to match it, the report said. Still, some highly competitive applicants like engineers could try their luck regardless.
The additional verification requirements follow another attempt by Google to manage its payroll. Last month, leaked data from an internal salary calculator showed that some employees could face a pay cut of up to 25% for continuing to work remotely.
The company previously said it had approved 85% of roughly 10,000 remote-work requests from employees, and a spokesperson told Reuters, "We always pay at the top of the local market based on where an employee works from."