Google is giving its employees’ holiday gifts to charity this year

Google is giving its usual employee holiday gifts to charity this year, the Mountain View company has confirmed. This follows last year, when Google gave all of its employees the option of either the company’s Nexus 5X smartphone (in any color) or a donation to charity.

Since the company has a longstanding tradition of handing out whatever is the latest gadget, many assumed that Google employees would have enjoyed a Pixel this year. In 2011, Googlers received a Galaxy Nexus with a customized back cover, and in 2012 they got a Motorola Razr M alongside the original Nexus 7 and Samsung Chromebook. In 2013, employees got to choose between a Nexus 5 or Nexus 7, and in 2014, Googlers were all treated to some nifty Android Wear watches. Last year, as mentioned, they were offered a Nexus 5X.

But this year, that gift was an email telling employees that their gift would be given to charity on their behalf. According to Fortune, Alphabet specifically donated $30 million worth of products — including Chromebooks, smartphones, and the tech support associated with them — to schools.

This decision makes a lot of sense in light of the company’s recent moves somewhat away from whimsy and perks and risky ventures and toward responsibility — financially and otherwise. This same Alphabet for the first time passed on giveaways at this year’s Google I/O developer conference. Bloomberg detailed this new Alphabet in an in-depth story yesterday, with most parts of the transformation revolving around changes made by Google’s relatively new CFO Ruth Porat.