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Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

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Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#211

Post by jachee »

kbenson wrote: post #164
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.

> It sets obvious precedent and will upset more folks when you stop. Isn't another solution to make perks not variable, and clearly outlined in the contract as part of the employment package? You only have to worry about what your employees will do if you take away a perk when it's actually something you can consider taking away. If you treat it as part of the guaranteed compensation, you'll budget for it accordingly…

> make it a flat guaranteed amount

Isn't this functionally equivalent to "pay better base salaries"?

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#212

Post by twobitshifter »

atypmorn wrote: post #72

In my last job I worked at a company that paid slightly below the market rate, not including the bonus. At the time I got the job, I didn't realise that I was already being significantly underpaid. I thought it was a bit low but didn't realise the extent of it. So when I got the new job, I was blown over by the huge jump in salary and couldn't be happier. What was better? I was entitled to receive each year up to a 1…

Similar story from a friend. The privately held company paid record dividends in both 2020 and 2019, but used COVID as a cover to do without both bonuses and raises. The only way to see this money would be to become a stock holder in the company, which is only offered begrudgingly.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#213

Post by dboreham »

lazyasciiart wrote: post #87
hrocha1 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Step 1. create a charity that would "adopt" Google employees and give them Pixel phones Step 2. choose that charity and pick yourself for an adoption

Step 0: remember that people have been creating scam charities for a long time, so the IRS looks for it, knows more than you do about it, and does not like it.

Create a church instead..

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#214

Post by jrodthree24 »

gonehome wrote: post #166
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…

Yeah, but your example is a little different than the OP's - I think part of this though is that the company is using the 'bonus' effectively as salary but with the idea that they don't have to guarantee its future. The company treats it like salary, the employees treat it like salary, recruiters probably mention it as part of comp like it's salary, etc. Then one day they decide not to do it, of course people are pis…

Exactly. At my company, salaries are capped and the higher end of your comp comes from your bonus. At the end of the year, instead of raising salaries, they give out larger bonuses. If one day they just decide not to give it to you, you will have earned anywhere from 20-70% less in total.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#215

Post by [deleted] »

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.

[deleted]

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#217

Post by dboreham »

bradleyjg wrote: post #37
dewitt wrote: post #7

> "$25,000 was not enough money to retire on for sure, even in 1996." $25,000 in 1996 is $42,000 in 2021. Seems like a modest incentive for top tech talent, even back then. * To respond to the comment below, the author had been working as a hardware systems engineer at headquarters for 10 years by 1996.

Top tech talent, even in software, weren’t making the kind of money they are today. Top new grads going to the hottest employers could hope to make $50,000 all in (not counting stock options paying off down the road). $100,000 in guaranteed comp was all but unheard of for ICs. Programming was not yet at the doctor/lawyer level, much less the banker one. That started to change in the dotcom frenzy but that was still a…

It started to change when the salary cartel was busted.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#218

Post by compiler-guy »

mcny wrote: post #103
mulmen wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait what? Who gets the tax break there?

If it is a thousand dollar donation, what am I going to do with the tax break? I still have to take a standard deduction. What am I missing?

You didn’t get the deduction. It was just a way to direct company funds.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#219

Post by brandmeyer »

kevinyew wrote: post #187
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.

Not to sound miserly, but how is this a bonus for the employee whatsoever?

The Christmas gift was in addition to the normal annual bonus payed out in January.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#220

Post by alasdair_ »

zepto wrote: post #193
donw wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Startup employees going home at 5 and fighting unreasonable schedules? Absolutely. First, overwork doesn't lead to more productivity for knowledge workers. You get to pay that piper one way or another in the end. Second, back in the day, if your company was acquired for multiple billions, you had a pretty good shot at a life-changing infusion of cash. Nowadays, stock options given to employees often end up being wo…

> Nowadays, stock options given to employees often end up being worth nothing, even on a successful exit. This seems unlikely. Exits and IPOs have much greater valuations now than they did ‘back in the day’ so far more early employees end up with a significant infusion of cash.

Companies are also taking FAR longer to exit/IPO than they did back in the day and most companies still have a 90 day limit on ISOs.

How many super early employees are able to hang on for a decade until IPO, or have the cash to exercise their options before they leave?

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