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I've left a company (Microsoft) in part due to big bonuses. In my case, it was because the bonus gave me psychological stress. I felt a lot of (self-imposed) pr
by christophilus 10y ago
I've left a company (Microsoft) in part due to big bonuses. In my case, it was because the bonus gave me psychological stress. I felt a lot of (self-imposed) pressure to keep performing at a very high level. The bonus was given to me because I did a lot of work to get a product out the door successfully. That process was frustrating and painful. The big bonus made me think "we expect more of the same!"
In retrospect, that's not at all what management was telling me. But I felt it. And I didn't want to go through another year like the one that led up to the bonus. And I didn't feel like climbing a career ladder (the way Microsoft at the time seemed to encourage). I just wanted to be a simple software engineer and build cool stuff.
I guess what I'm trying to say is anecdotally, actions (including big salaries / bonuses) can have unintended consequences.
Take IBM's recent initiative to kill remote work. Well, a predictable unintended consequence of that is a brain-drain. Those who aren't capable of finding other jobs will stay at IBM. Those who are capable will leave for greener (and remote-friendly) pastures.
- rm_-rf_slash 10y agoThat was a very interesting and meaningful anecdote and I appreciate your sharing it with us. Thank you.
- crestedtazo 10y agoI really enjoyed this comment. Thank you.
- muzz 10y agoI would have taken the opposite view-- that a bonus was for hard work already done, not an expectation of future work. A salary increase would represent that expectation.
- ramy_d 10y agoHah, when I was at a big company i took your opposite view in that a salary increase represented recognition for good work done consistently and the expectation of a new normal. It's funny how we interpret the (generally) same system
- kobeya 10y agoI have never ever thought of a bonus as expectation for future work...
- pyoung 10y agoIt sounds like you left because you were burnt out. The fact that you were incented by larger bonuses doesn't change that. Many industries and companies use bonuses as a way to incentivize over-work (Wall St in particular) and they expect and plan for a certain percentage of employees to quit each year because of it. The fact is, the more you pay employees, the more you can demand from them. And most of the employees who quit to find a job with better work life balance aren't leaving because they got paid too much, they are leaving because they were too stressed out.
- rhapsodic 10y agoYou made the right call by leaving after you got the bonus, rather than just before it was to be paid out.