3 ms·

Why are they two year stints when usually you're getting RSUs as part of your package that often have a 4 year vest?

vmception 5y ago
People are either vesting 1/48th immediately every month, 3/48th every quarter, or are in the same circumstance a year after starting. The 4 year part is irrelevant for them as there is no actual waiting involved. They simple are able to negotiated being enticed by another company that will exceed how much cash they are already collecting. The company they work for gave them a signing bonus that required them to stay one year, the next company will too, as well as a higher base salary and higher dollar amount of shares that begin vesting quickly.
leetcrew 5y ago
four year vest doesn't mean you get all the RSUs at the end of four years. or if it does, that's not how it actually works at google, facebook, microsoft, etc. typically you get an offer with a certain amount of RSUs, and then you get 25% of that each year. amazon is an exception; you get most of the RSUs in the third and fourth year. but you also get a large signing bonus paid over the first two years that mostly makes up for that. tl;dr: your yearly TC doesn't change much at these companies unless you get an actual raise. I don't fully understand the reasoning behind the four year schedule, but AIUI, it does not strongly incentivize sticking around for the full four years unless you assume significant stock appreciation.
- halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
  I know it doesn't mean you get all the RSUs at the 4 year mark but if you leave after 2 years, you only get 50% of your RSUs. Why leave potentially hundreds of thousands on the table to jump after two years? I've never heard of this two-year stinting.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - mandelbrotwurst 5y ago
    If you're granted an equal amount each year, then you'll get a similar amount in your first year at a competitor who also grants an equal amount each year.
  - awsthro00945 5y ago
    You shouldn't view the RSUs as different from any other compensation package, even just an all-cash package. If Google says they'll give you $200k per year in cash + $400k split over 4 years as RSUs, that's the same as just getting $300k per year in cash. Why would you leave $300k per year in cash on the table? Because another company is offering you $350k per year (or more likely in the case of FAANG, another company is offering you the same $300k/yr but with significantly less stress).
    - trevyn 5y ago
      >If Google says they'll give you $200k per year in cash + $400k split over 4 years as RSUs, that's the same as just getting $300k per year in cash. It’s not; the RSUs are priced at grant, not at vest. Plus there’s annual top-up grants.
    - halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
      Yeah I guess I'm just surprised that, once you're at the FAANG level, the packages are going to vary that much that one would jump every two years. Also, having just interviewed at the FAANG level, they are very weary about job hoppers to the point where if you haven't worked at a place for longer than 3+ years, they want a detailed explanation why.
      - awsthro00945 5y ago
        > if you haven't worked at a place for longer than 3+ years, they want a detailed explanation why. Interesting. At my FAANG (Amazon) we explicitly are told to not ask this. It would be kind of weird for us to ask that, really, considering the tenure of most people here is <2 years.
- herval 5y ago
  Facebook does stock refreshers every year, so there is _some_ benefit on sticking around, as you’ll have more stock vesting every year (until the 4y cliff at least)
cjbprime 5y ago
At the FAANG level, it's sometimes possible to have your offer include a buyout of unvested RSUs which you would lose by accepting the new offer.

People are either vesting 1/48th immediately every month, 3/48th every quarter, or are in the same circumstance a year after starting. The 4 year part is irrelevant for them as there is no actual waiting involved. They simple are able to negotiated being enticed by another company that will exceed how much cash they are already collecting. The company they work for gave them a signing bonus that required them to stay one year, the next company will too, as well as a higher base salary and higher dollar amount of shares that begin vesting quickly.

leetcrew 5y ago

four year vest doesn't mean you get all the RSUs at the end of four years. or if it does, that's not how it actually works at google, facebook, microsoft, etc. typically you get an offer with a certain amount of RSUs, and then you get 25% of that each year. amazon is an exception; you get most of the RSUs in the third and fourth year. but you also get a large signing bonus paid over the first two years that mostly makes up for that. tl;dr: your yearly TC doesn't change much at these companies unless you get an actual raise. I don't fully understand the reasoning behind the four year schedule, but AIUI, it does not strongly incentivize sticking around for the full four years unless you assume significant stock appreciation.

halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
I know it doesn't mean you get all the RSUs at the 4 year mark but if you leave after 2 years, you only get 50% of your RSUs. Why leave potentially hundreds of thousands on the table to jump after two years? I've never heard of this two-year stinting.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- mandelbrotwurst 5y ago
  If you're granted an equal amount each year, then you'll get a similar amount in your first year at a competitor who also grants an equal amount each year.
- awsthro00945 5y ago
  You shouldn't view the RSUs as different from any other compensation package, even just an all-cash package. If Google says they'll give you $200k per year in cash + $400k split over 4 years as RSUs, that's the same as just getting $300k per year in cash. Why would you leave $300k per year in cash on the table? Because another company is offering you $350k per year (or more likely in the case of FAANG, another company is offering you the same $300k/yr but with significantly less stress).
  - trevyn 5y ago
    >If Google says they'll give you $200k per year in cash + $400k split over 4 years as RSUs, that's the same as just getting $300k per year in cash. It’s not; the RSUs are priced at grant, not at vest. Plus there’s annual top-up grants.
  - halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
    Yeah I guess I'm just surprised that, once you're at the FAANG level, the packages are going to vary that much that one would jump every two years. Also, having just interviewed at the FAANG level, they are very weary about job hoppers to the point where if you haven't worked at a place for longer than 3+ years, they want a detailed explanation why.
    - awsthro00945 5y ago
      > if you haven't worked at a place for longer than 3+ years, they want a detailed explanation why. Interesting. At my FAANG (Amazon) we explicitly are told to not ask this. It would be kind of weird for us to ask that, really, considering the tenure of most people here is <2 years.
herval 5y ago
Facebook does stock refreshers every year, so there is _some_ benefit on sticking around, as you’ll have more stock vesting every year (until the 4y cliff at least)

cjbprime 5y ago

At the FAANG level, it's sometimes possible to have your offer include a buyout of unvested RSUs which you would lose by accepting the new offer.