4 ms·

Well, those are the expectations. Low ratings don’t mean being managed out in typical years, but that’s not where we find ourselves. I don’t think the system is

by harles 4y ago

Well, those are the expectations. Low ratings don’t mean being managed out in typical years, but that’s not where we find ourselves. I don’t think the system is perfect, but it is fair. An L5 that missed their expectations is laid off the same as an L9 - there’s no thought of “but they would’ve hit expectations as an L7” just as an L5 doesn’t get credit for being a high performing L3.

killjoywashere 4y ago
Yeah, from what I can surmise, I wouldn't be surprised if an L9 was earning salary equivalent to a top pro athlete (easily 7 figures). You better be writing some historic, market bending shit to get paid like that. Figure 10 years of a $2M salary, you've paid for everything money can buy, in cash, up to the private jet level.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
  > Figure 10 years of a $2M salary, you've paid for everything money can buy, in cash, up to the private jet level. God, no. You're not even close to the limits of what money can buy. You may not even have enough money to be able to buy a private jet; it depends on the jet. You certainly haven't earned enough money that it would make any sense for you to buy a jet.
  - hardware2win 4y ago
    His point stands regardless
  - I_AM_A_SMURF 4y ago
    Yeah definitely no private jet. Maybe a little Cessna.
- endtime 4y ago
  Assume that's $1m/year after taxes. With 3 kids in college and a nice house and a nice vacation a year, you're surely still comfortable but you're not buying a plane.
FredPret 4y ago
If it were my company doing layoffs, I’d hold on tight to the best and most senior engineers and lay off the entry level ones if I had to. Knowing what you have to do and why is much more important than the details of how you get there
- chezelenkoooo 4y ago
  It's a case by case basis and thinking you can apply a general rule across the organisation is completely misguided. I don't want to rehash the same arguments so just read the rest of the comments.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jedberg 4y ago
That's not really how it works. L6+ is considered a "terminal" level. As long as you aren't underperforming it's perfectly fine to stay at that level indefinitely. It's not an "up or out" position like L5 and down.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- saagarjha 4y ago
  They keep raising it every time I hear about it…it used to be L4, now people say it’s L5/senior. And you’re saying it’s L6? I can’t keep up with this :/
  - jsnell 4y ago
    I don't know where jedberg pulled that from, but I seriously doubt that the L6-equivalent is the terminal level at any FAANG. At Google it definitely used to be L5, but apparently was dropped to L4 a few years ago
- paganel 4y ago
  > It's not an "up or out" position like L5 and down. As an outsider to this all FAANG thing that feels wrong to me, it has always felt so. What happens, or at least what I think happens because of this strategy, is that lots of institutional knowledge gets lots pretty fast and in an irremediable way, because many of those L4s and L5s that ended up not making it to L6, and so got the boot, knew of some parts of the "system" that no-one else did. Unless a FAANG company only relies on L6s and higher to get a hold over that institutional knowledge over the long term, which I pretty much doubt it can happen.
  - foogazi 4y ago
    I don’t think L4 / L5 get booted that often, when was the last time FAANGS had mass layoffs ? the more realistic scenario is attrition, going to another place for L+1 comp

by harles 4y ago

killjoywashere 4y ago

Yeah, from what I can surmise, I wouldn't be surprised if an L9 was earning salary equivalent to a top pro athlete (easily 7 figures). You better be writing some historic, market bending shit to get paid like that. Figure 10 years of a $2M salary, you've paid for everything money can buy, in cash, up to the private jet level.

thaumasiotes 4y ago
> Figure 10 years of a $2M salary, you've paid for everything money can buy, in cash, up to the private jet level. God, no. You're not even close to the limits of what money can buy. You may not even have enough money to be able to buy a private jet; it depends on the jet. You certainly haven't earned enough money that it would make any sense for you to buy a jet.
- hardware2win 4y ago
  His point stands regardless
- I_AM_A_SMURF 4y ago
  Yeah definitely no private jet. Maybe a little Cessna.
endtime 4y ago
Assume that's $1m/year after taxes. With 3 kids in college and a nice house and a nice vacation a year, you're surely still comfortable but you're not buying a plane.

FredPret 4y ago

If it were my company doing layoffs, I’d hold on tight to the best and most senior engineers and lay off the entry level ones if I had to. Knowing what you have to do and why is much more important than the details of how you get there

chezelenkoooo 4y ago
It's a case by case basis and thinking you can apply a general rule across the organisation is completely misguided. I don't want to rehash the same arguments so just read the rest of the comments.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

jedberg 4y ago

That's not really how it works. L6+ is considered a "terminal" level. As long as you aren't underperforming it's perfectly fine to stay at that level indefinitely. It's not an "up or out" position like L5 and down.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
saagarjha 4y ago
They keep raising it every time I hear about it…it used to be L4, now people say it’s L5/senior. And you’re saying it’s L6? I can’t keep up with this :/
- jsnell 4y ago
  I don't know where jedberg pulled that from, but I seriously doubt that the L6-equivalent is the terminal level at any FAANG. At Google it definitely used to be L5, but apparently was dropped to L4 a few years ago
paganel 4y ago
> It's not an "up or out" position like L5 and down. As an outsider to this all FAANG thing that feels wrong to me, it has always felt so. What happens, or at least what I think happens because of this strategy, is that lots of institutional knowledge gets lots pretty fast and in an irremediable way, because many of those L4s and L5s that ended up not making it to L6, and so got the boot, knew of some parts of the "system" that no-one else did. Unless a FAANG company only relies on L6s and higher to get a hold over that institutional knowledge over the long term, which I pretty much doubt it can happen.
- foogazi 4y ago
  I don’t think L4 / L5 get booted that often, when was the last time FAANGS had mass layoffs ? the more realistic scenario is attrition, going to another place for L+1 comp