Google is reminding its 23,300 employees how much they are appreciated by giving them all 10 percent raises next year.

The Internet search leader also is shifting a portion of the annual bonuses into workers' regular paychecks. Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt celebrated the good news in an internal memo Tuesday to employees.

The planned raises, earlier reported by the technology blog Silicon Alley Insider, were confirmed Wednesday by The Associated Press.

Schmidt says Google wants to reward its employees for their hard work, but it also could be meant to prevent rivals such as Facebook from luring its workers away.

The raises are also the latest sign that Google expects to continue growing at a robust rate. The company has added 3,500 workers so far this year.