Google Cloud Considers Scrapping Sales Commissions Based on Deal Values

To show investors that its cloud unit could compete with Amazon Web Services, Google in recent years signed billion-dollar, long-term deals with multinationals such as Deutsche Bank and Sabre. Google incentivized sales teams to nail those deals by basing a portion of their commissions on the value of the contracts—even if those customers didn’t actually spend the full amount on Google Cloud services.

Those days may soon be over. As companies pull back on cloud projects and Google’s deal growth slows, senior Google Cloud sales leaders have told managers to expect changes in how staff get paid next year, according to two employees and two other people who do business with Google. The sales leaders didn’t provide details, but executives have discussed eliminating commissions tied to the value of contracts, these people said.