4 ms·

Here is the 10x difference in pay: "One recent Googler, we’ve confirmed, was recently offered a counter offer he couldn’t refuse (except he did). He was offere

Here is the 10x difference in pay: "One recent Googler, we’ve confirmed, was recently offered a counter offer he couldn’t refuse (except he did). He was offered a 15% raise on his $150,000 mid level developer salary, quadruple the stock benefits and…wait for it…a $500,000 cash bonus to stay for a year. He took the Facebook offer anyway. Sources close to Google tell us that about 80% of people stay when they’re offered a counter to a Facebook offer. But some still leave. Part of that may be that Facebook is quietly telling people, never in writing, that there’s no reason their stock won’t hit $100 billion in total valuation over the next couple of years. No guarantees, yadda yadda, but hey if you get 1/10 of 1%, that’s $100 million in stock. Now it’s a party." http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/01/google-making-extraordinary-counteroffers-to-stop-flow-of-employees-to-facebook/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/01/google-making-extraordinary... Actually, that is a lot more than a 10x difference. That is close to a 100x difference in pay, comparing that extraordinary programmer to what some random programmer working for Wells Fargo makes.

patio11 16y ago
This assumes both that you'd get .1% (fairly generous to my understanding for someone who is not VP of Engineering) and, critically, that you'd be allowed to keep it. Savvy people whose only job is maximizing the firm's return during investment / M&A / etc have been known to retroactively adjust equity grants of employees, particularly employees who are not in the room when the decision is made. Not that Facebook would ever do that, of course.
- nopinsight 16y ago
  What if it is .01% and suppose that the base price for options is pretty low? .01% of a $50 billion company is still $5 million. Even if you earn just $2 million out of that, it will still beat accepting Google's offer hands down. If you're good, you can also go back to Google once your options at FB vested. See Cuil founder: http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/14/cuil-google/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/14/cuil-google/
j_baker 16y ago
I'm surprised 80% of people take it. Granted, $500k is nothing to sneeze at. But you have to ask yourself why they don't offer you that bonus until you have an offer from facebook. This to me says it's less about retaining the engineer and more about keeping facebook from getting good engineers.
- Dylanlacey 16y ago
  I don't think it's anything that dark. I think it's a case of someone else wanting YOUR candy making you realize just how delicious that candy must be... After all, someone else wants it!
martinkallstrom 16y ago
This explains a huge part of the real reason productive programmers aren't paid more: In general they are providing that output without asking for proper compensation in a way that gives them enough leverage. Facebook wanting to hire them is giving them leverage enough, so they get paid. Managers have leverage, so in companies making billions of dollars in revenue top level management can make hundreds of millions. What the productive programmers should look for is effective leverage. Traditionally, the answer has been to form a union. I don't think that is feasible here though, the practicalities, ideologies and the fact that the programmers already get paid enough to eat and sleep comfortably, stand in the way. But you never know.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- krakensden 16y ago
  The trouble with unions is that what you want is Cincinnatus, but what you get is another set of gangsters in suits you have to support forever.

patio11 16y ago

This assumes both that you'd get .1% (fairly generous to my understanding for someone who is not VP of Engineering) and, critically, that you'd be allowed to keep it. Savvy people whose only job is maximizing the firm's return during investment / M&A / etc have been known to retroactively adjust equity grants of employees, particularly employees who are not in the room when the decision is made. Not that Facebook would ever do that, of course.

nopinsight 16y ago
What if it is .01% and suppose that the base price for options is pretty low? .01% of a $50 billion company is still $5 million. Even if you earn just $2 million out of that, it will still beat accepting Google's offer hands down. If you're good, you can also go back to Google once your options at FB vested. See Cuil founder: http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/14/cuil-google/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/14/cuil-google/

j_baker 16y ago

I'm surprised 80% of people take it. Granted, $500k is nothing to sneeze at. But you have to ask yourself why they don't offer you that bonus until you have an offer from facebook. This to me says it's less about retaining the engineer and more about keeping facebook from getting good engineers.

Dylanlacey 16y ago
I don't think it's anything that dark. I think it's a case of someone else wanting YOUR candy making you realize just how delicious that candy must be... After all, someone else wants it!

martinkallstrom 16y ago

This explains a huge part of the real reason productive programmers aren't paid more: In general they are providing that output without asking for proper compensation in a way that gives them enough leverage. Facebook wanting to hire them is giving them leverage enough, so they get paid. Managers have leverage, so in companies making billions of dollars in revenue top level management can make hundreds of millions. What the productive programmers should look for is effective leverage. Traditionally, the answer has been to form a union. I don't think that is feasible here though, the practicalities, ideologies and the fact that the programmers already get paid enough to eat and sleep comfortably, stand in the way. But you never know.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
krakensden 16y ago
The trouble with unions is that what you want is Cincinnatus, but what you get is another set of gangsters in suits you have to support forever.