Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) employees who were counting on those luxurious $20,000 bonuses may have expectations that won't be fulfilled this year. Instead of handing out large bonuses as in the past, the world's largest search company is handing out Google-powered cellphones instead.

Even Google needs to watch its nickel in this kind of economy. The company is used to giving away free meals and massages to its employees along with all other kinds of unheard-of perks. But, it isn't immune to the slowdown in consumer and business spending currently causing a recession for the U.S. (and, in fact, globally). There's nothing wrong with a $400 Google smartphone. In fact, employees of many companies would be glad to get a $400 gift from their employer.

The Google Android smartphone has been configured to work on any GSM carrier in the world, so at least those Google employees receiving one won't be tied to using it with T-Mobile here in the U.S. or a single carrier somewhere else in the world. While layoffs in the tech sector are still happening (and will continue), Google employees who have to forgo a hefty bonus this year and instead receive a new smartphone should still count their blessings. One day, Google's storied perks will cease to exist when the next Google being incubated in a garage somewhere steals the power.

Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has been growing its employee count by leaps and bounds over the last few years, but has recently slowed that growth which, of course, sounded an investor alert. But, the world's largest internet search engine just can't keep track of the activities of all its new employees, according to CEO Eric Schmidt.

Google does not want new employees to get lost in the cracks, according to Schmidt. If this is true, then Google is growing too fast for its britches. "We have slowed our head count growth for a couple of reasons, but the biggest reason is it began to feel like we really didn't have a good sense of what people were doing ... the systems in the company, literally who's doing what, what are they doing, seemed to lag our ability to hire these great people," Schmidt told CNBC.

In the first quarter of 2008, Google upped its head count from 16,805 to 19,156. That's quite a bit in a single quarter. Even with all those new people, Google affords more luxuries on its employees than most other public companies in the world. Even with a recession in progress (if you agree with that), Google's business, so far, has been stellar. Schmidt indicated that "we have gross margins to afford it," in talking about the lavish treatment of Google employees and the benefits they receive. Will shareholders continue to like the way that money is being spent? So far, there have not been any complaints.

When Bonnie Brown signed on to provide services as a masseuse to the staff at Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s home office back in 1999, I wonder how she felt about receiving stock options as part of her compensation. At the time, the company was a 40-person Silicon Valley start-up, one of thousands snatching up venture capital, the vast majority of which went out with a whimper by the time of the tech crash.

Bonnie evidently stuck with it, though, and as a result is now a multi-millionaire. According to The New York Times, she has established her own charitable foundation and spends her time traveling and finding good uses for her money.

The Times reports that over a thousand people own over $5 million each of Google shares and options, and current and former employees hold options of over $2 billion. While new employees continue to gain stock options, the days of exponential growth such as Brown had experienced have no doubt passed, which makes me wonder if this might not drive the best and brightest to look for work with companies at an earlier stage in their development cycle. Google might be a little concerned about attracting too many people who are simply looking for a safe, dependable place to work. Those people are not the innovators that it thrives on.

Kudos to Brown, who deserves to benefit from her willingness to take risk. I, for one, like to see money ending up in the hands of the kneady. (Sorry!)

It's pretty well known that Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) corporate culture is a bit odd. Or maybe it's normal and the culture of every other employer is odd. Either way, free chef-prepared lunches, sports, car washes and oil changes as well as having your pets join you at work are all part of Google's corporate DNA these days. The company can afford it since it makes a bundle of cash every quarter from selling text ads on its search pages and at partner and affiliate sites.

Many investors probably wonder if all that cost outlay is worth it. In other words, what return is being generated from "pampering" Google employees like almost no other employees are? Plenty, I would argue. This kind of teamwork and corporate culture would almost certainly generate die-hard loyalty and a genuine hard work ethic that would be the envy of any corporation. That's just an opinion, but I've personally seen corporations with similar corporate cultures -- that is, focus on the employee -- come down and smash the competition -- in several industries.

Now, with that said, can Google keep this up as it doubles its employee count almost every year? Probably so, for the time being. The efficient and planned Google's courier service from the Mountain View headquarters to all the surrounding areas where Google employees live, is just another example of Google making employees happy while allowing them to work more and waste time less (as in, commuting).