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At one company I worked at only one thing mattered: the yearly bonus

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Re: At one company I worked at only one thing mattered: the yearly bonus

#71

Post by sofixa »

t_mann wrote: post #40
krallja wrote: post #35

The only bonus I have ever received which didn’t make me feel scummy was profit-sharing. Most companies don’t do it because profit is for the owners. Everything else just feels like a way to decide whether or not to pay me what I’m worth after I’ve already done the work

How is that different? Somehow we have to measure what your individual contribution to the company's profits was, which, unless you work in sales maybe, is going to involve a lot of judgment.

At my previous employer it was first proportional on tenure, and then switched to just divided to everyone equally.

Re: At one company I worked at only one thing mattered: the yearly bonus

#72

Post by t_mann »

sofixa wrote: post #71
t_mann wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that different? Somehow we have to measure what your individual contribution to the company's profits was, which, unless you work in sales maybe, is going to involve a lot of judgment.

At my previous employer it was first proportional on tenure, and then switched to just divided to everyone equally.

And how were those perceived by employees? Genuinely just curious.

Re: At one company I worked at only one thing mattered: the yearly bonus

#73

Post by throwawaysleep »

daenz wrote: post #33

Many people are highlighting the zero-sum nature of bonuses. I wonder how much of this problem goes away if bonuses are no longer zero-sum. In theory, it shouldn't even cost the business more money, because everyone who meets the bonus requirements should get a bonus, in either system.

I think a large part of the problem is that bonuses are often based on comparables, so the bonus requirement is being in the top 10% of people.

That is technically a requirement, but still zero sum.

Re: At one company I worked at only one thing mattered: the yearly bonus

#75

Post by raincom »

Jasper_ wrote: post #67
mabbo wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good God yes. Once my team owned a service that did X. Among it's functionality, it had an API that, as a side effect, stored some data that could be retrieved. Sadly, this service had no validation that the data being input made any sense in the context of what this service did. A developer on a neighboring team had a big promo project on the go. As a simple hack, and as a way to save time, his project used our serv…

The fast-paced "fail upwards" where you get a new job at a new FAANG every few months while leaving a trail of destruction in your wake astounds me, and I don't understand how it works and how companies keep falling for it. There are a lot of excellent ex-FAANG programmers I've worked with, and a lot of terrible ones, and my experience is that usually the ones with the most prestigious titles show up, do 3 months of…

Do people leave FAANG jobs every three months? I thought they stay there for three years to get promotions and then leave

Re: At one company I worked at only one thing mattered: the yearly bonus

#76

Post by pavlov »

Jasper_ wrote: post #67
mabbo wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good God yes. Once my team owned a service that did X. Among it's functionality, it had an API that, as a side effect, stored some data that could be retrieved. Sadly, this service had no validation that the data being input made any sense in the context of what this service did. A developer on a neighboring team had a big promo project on the go. As a simple hack, and as a way to save time, his project used our serv…

The fast-paced "fail upwards" where you get a new job at a new FAANG every few months while leaving a trail of destruction in your wake astounds me, and I don't understand how it works and how companies keep falling for it. There are a lot of excellent ex-FAANG programmers I've worked with, and a lot of terrible ones, and my experience is that usually the ones with the most prestigious titles show up, do 3 months of…

This is entirely the fault of the FAANG hiring methods of which most managers at these companies are very proud because they provide such excellent “signal”.

But the upside is that it’s a competitive advantage for startups that intentionally build different hiring pipelines.

Re: At one company I worked at only one thing mattered: the yearly bonus

#77

Post by bushbaba »

Mr_P wrote: post #5

If you replace the word "bonus" with "promo", then you unfortunately get an eerily-accurate reflection of the state of FAANG companies.

Sadly it's only gotten more true over time. As FAANG growth slows, the internal politics grows. Bezos was right that having a 2 pizza team really is a recipe for success, larger than that you end up with internal infighting and stepping on top each other.

Re: At one company I worked at only one thing mattered: the yearly bonus

#78

Post by lr4444lr »

coliveira wrote: post #42
lr4444lr wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the companies where the bonuses could reasonably be that high, I'd probably rather have stock options - because those are contractually mine.

No company will give you options from day one. They will give them over several years if you meet their expectations, which is essentially the same as a bonus.

Yes, obviously, but what is promised to me is still contractual in time and amount precisely.

Re: At one company I worked at only one thing mattered: the yearly bonus

#79

Post by mertd »

wreath wrote: post #69
mabbo wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good God yes. Once my team owned a service that did X. Among it's functionality, it had an API that, as a side effect, stored some data that could be retrieved. Sadly, this service had no validation that the data being input made any sense in the context of what this service did. A developer on a neighboring team had a big promo project on the go. As a simple hack, and as a way to save time, his project used our serv…

How is this his fault? Your service had poor validation or design and was used in ways it was intended to. You knew this but still didn't patch it?

Internal systems always have large gaping holes like that because if someone is misusing it, you can simply ask them to stop it. Most adults comply.

Re: At one company I worked at only one thing mattered: the yearly bonus

#80

Post by daniel-cussen »

devwastaken wrote: post #47
nindalf wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Valve really going to file a lawsuit against him and argue in court whether this actually happened or not? They're not. Do they even have grounds to file a lawsuit? Likely not, American courts aren't that sympathetic to libel claims. But let's assume for a minute that what you're saying has some merit. Maybe Valve does have grounds to sue. And maybe they're interested in suing. In that case, is this lousy attempt…

American civil system is not based on merit or reason. Anyone can file for any reason, any decent lawyer can make some claims that will require you to argue against, else they be automatically defaulted to true and you lose. It doesn't matter if the big corp wins or not, the toll it takes on you is threat enough. This isn't about civil disputes anyways. No employer wants to see a prospective new hire trash talking th…

Hahaha yeah you know what start with this exact preamble next time you're a plaintiff telling the judge why you deserve money. "The American civil system is not based on merit or reason." I would say it is in fact based on both of those, but more than anything on judgment.
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