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Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

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Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#111

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

projectileboy wrote: post #77

The asymmetry between how employees agonize over their behavior towards their employers vs how employers think of their employees never ceases to amaze me. Never forget that your employer will gleefully lay off their most loyal employees if doing so is somehow in alignment with some executive’s comp. I’m not saying you should ever behave unethically, I’m just saying that if you’re on the field, you should be aware of…

Yes I'm in total agreement with this. I see many people here who get absurdly passionate about programming that they forget a lot that management is not as much. The business world is brutal so you gotta hedge the odds in your favor. Busting my ass for the potential to make a significant bonus isnt worth it. As is going above and beyond. Just game the system and wait for management to figure it out. And if your managers don't monitor you, exploit the hell out of that. This is why I consider the Gervais Principal one of the greatest reads of this modern world for office laborers.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#112

Post by gscott »

Negitivefrags wrote: post #6

I actually think bonuses and equity grants are terrible for comapany morale. I've seen it many times, and heard many more stories. On top of the issue in this story, there are others too. For example, if someone wants to leave, but the bonus or vesting is coming up, they will stay, and you don't want people on a project who don't want to be there. As another example I know people who work at companies that are going…

Bankers and Salespeople have a different structure they get a minimum salary too low to live on and then get bonuses based upon performance.

My son was an O'Reilly Auto Parts store manager, turned out he didn't realize his salary was $500 a month until he was in an accident and was out for a six weeks... he was stuck, he had to go back to work even tough his femur was just broken in half.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#113

Post by fred256 »

harryh wrote: post #78
dilyevsky wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If i recall the same happened when google replaced their holiday gift phone with donation to some charities they picked.

Before it was a gift phone it was $1,000. They changed that in....2008ish maybe. I can't remember the exact year.

2008, it was a T-Mobile G1 which was the first Android phone on the US market.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#114

Post by phyzome »

jedberg wrote: post #17

When I worked at eBay, we had a bonus program based on company revenue. It was around 6% of your salary max and managers got around 25% max based on the same formula. For the first few years, you could count on getting a max bonus every quarter. To the point where most everyone who worked there had always gotten one. And the one quarter, we didn't get the max bonus. In fact, I don't think we got it all. People scream…

My current employer does bonuses based on both individual and company performance, and I think they can be sizeable, but I pointedly never did the math when accepting the offer or since then. I don't want to know.

Base salary is in the contract, bonuses aren't. Base salary gives me a floor for how competitive the offer is. Bonuses, if they actually materialize, could theoretically help keep me from wandering off to a higher-paying job -- but I'm probably not going to do that math until I want to leave anyhow.

It's basically like stock options and whatnot. Lottery tickets.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#115

Post by sokoloff »

ldiracdelta wrote: post #21
jedberg wrote: post #17

When I worked at eBay, we had a bonus program based on company revenue. It was around 6% of your salary max and managers got around 25% max based on the same formula. For the first few years, you could count on getting a max bonus every quarter. To the point where most everyone who worked there had always gotten one. And the one quarter, we didn't get the max bonus. In fact, I don't think we got it all. People scream…

I've been at places where you get bonuses and me and the wife always call it "magic money". We don't bank on it and we try to pay down debt or invest it.

We had a quarterly cash bonus program that was variable based on company performance. In the fastest-growth times, it often paid out at the cap (250%). After one such payout, my neighbor stood up and theatrically loudly exclaimed, "I have no idea how this gets determined; I've just been strongly incentivized to act randomly!"

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#116

Post by salamanderman »

m463 wrote: post #88
taeric wrote: post #26

This is literally a plot point in Christmas Vacation. Is also why I think it is silly for startups to provide too many perks. It sets obvious precedent and will upset more folks when you stop. Find ways to invest in the company so that success is it's own perk. If the company truly has more, work that into raises where you clearly tie the income to the success of the company.

> Is also why I think it is silly for startups to provide too many perks Should the opposite be true as well? Startup employees going home at 5 and fighting unreasonable schedules?

Yes, most definitely

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#117

Post by dilyevsky »

harryh wrote: post #78
dilyevsky wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If i recall the same happened when google replaced their holiday gift phone with donation to some charities they picked.

Before it was a gift phone it was $1,000. They changed that in....2008ish maybe. I can't remember the exact year.

The year before i joined - 2010 was last one afaik (also when it got leaked)

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#118

Post by sokoloff »

sjwright wrote: post #52
dilyevsky wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If i recall the same happened when google replaced their holiday gift phone with donation to some charities they picked.

And then the accountants probably tabulated them as corporate donations. So were they gifts from the employee or not?

If you make a donation in someone's name, you get the tax deduction, not them. Google couldn't "pay" the employees in some non-taxable form and then let the employees take the $1000 deduction even if they wanted to (which they don't).

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#120

Post by dilyevsky »

mulmen wrote: post #65
dilyevsky wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If i recall the same happened when google replaced their holiday gift phone with donation to some charities they picked.

Wait what? Who gets the tax break there?

They didn’t share the details but most likely the company. The donation was “on behalf of all employees”
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