• TechCrunch, Friday, November 12, 2010 2:27 PM

Determined to hold onto top talent, Google just gave a staff engineer $3.5 million in restricted stock to stay with the company. According to TechCrunch, Google made the "jaw dropping" offer - which the engineer reportedly accepted -- in response to some serious wooing by Facebook.

By its own admission, Google is having a tough time holding onto talented employees. Its chief financial officer, Patrick Pichette, recently called the market for recruiting "exceptionally competitive" during a third-quarter earnings call. To keep the troops happy, word recently got out that Google plans to give its entire workforce a 10% raise and $1,000 cash bonuses at the end of the year. As The Los Angeles Times wrote on the news: "Google, which has long been a hub for some of the smartest people in Silicon Valley, is under siege from Facebook and other companies in a bruising war for talent." Recently, Lars Rasmussen, the co-founder of Google Maps, left for Facebook, while AdMob founder Omar Hamoui said he was done with Google.

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