TEXT OF INTERVIEW

JEREMY HOBSON: Google is giving all of its employees a 10 percent raise. To keep its top talent from searching for jobs elsewhere.

Marketplace’s Alisa Roth is covering this for us this morning, and she joins me now live in the studio. Good morning.

ALISA ROTH: Good morning?

HOBSON: So why is Google doing this?

ROTH: You mean besides trying to make the rest of us jealous?

HOBSON: Yeah, besides that.

ROTH: It’s really about raising morale. And about preventing other companies from poaching employees. Google has lost several big names recently, particularly to Facebook. I talked to an analyst this morning who says stealing employees from other companies is just part of the game in Silicon Valley. But Google clearly wants to prevent more defections. In fact, in an email to employees, Eric Schmidt, the CEO, wrote that the company wants “make sure you feel rewarded for your hard work.” And that the company wants to “continue to attract the best people to Google.”

HOBSON: And it makes me wonder if all kinds of companies are going to have to start doing this as the job market rebounds. But sticking in Silicon Valley for a moment, is this move by Google likely to spark a bit of a salary arms race there?

ROTH: It’s certainly possible. Like Google, both Microsoft and Apple have a lot of cash on hand. So it would be conceivable that they’d do something similar. The other thing to consider though is this move will have an effect on Google’s bottom line. So Wall Street may start getting a little nervous about the company’s expenses since it’ll be paying more for salaries. But Google did just post a big profit for the third-quarter.

HOBSON: Thanks Alisa.

ROTH: You’re welcome.

HOBSON: Marketplace’s Alisa Roth.