> I’m starting to wonder what the upside of working at a big tech company really is.
As opposed to working at a startup? Stability is way worse, base pay is lower on average, stock is an even bigger crapshoot, less perks, worse work-life balance. Work might be more fulfilling
How about as opposed to working for a generic normal business that isn't trying to play dumb games on the world stage and isn't some garage project that the CEO is incentivized to lie about consistently with the hope that it explodes?
I've worked for two very large (3000ish people) companies and it was great to have a day job that didn't have to become my identity, that understood that work-life balance is a thing, and that didn't pretend that "cool projects" were all that mattered. There isn't really any drama, there's no internal teams chats badmouthing management for a fake political stance (instead, these companies genuinely hire diversely, because those people are talented and perfectly capable of doing that job), and nobody is claiming my employer is the boogeyman. Neither company required me to pretend I wasn't working on blatantly immoral things that clearly make the world worse, and neither company has any intention of letting anyone go, because we didn't play cargo cult follow the leader blitzscaling during the pandemic in order to keep a death grip on the hiring market. This is despite one of those companies literally being in Silicon Valley
Well I'm working as the lead engineer at a startup for the past 3 years and can honestly say that fulfilling work is one of it. You are excited to go to work.. Another aspect might be softer things such as remote work and less bureaucracy. The company grew from 6 people to over 50 in that time with minimal funding.
That being said if someone has a .NET/React/NextJS/Node role (can also be 100% TypeScript) and I can work globally (wanna travel the world), I would switch in a heartbeat. European so not so expensive :)
> what’s the upside of giving a FAANG your all vs resting and vesting?'
Granted, the economy is very different than it was 5 years ago, but my very senior role at a startup paid about $185k w/no bonus, and 0.1% equity. 50+ hour weeks were the norm. We were acquired and I got $0 for the stock, but I did a $300k bonus (paid in 3 tranches over 18 months). I felt like I'd hit the lottery!
A couple years later, I joined a FAANG that paid me $100k just to walk in the door. Total pay, including stock ranged between $750k and $850k. My work week was 40 hours and I had so many fringe benefits and in-office amenities that I could never use them all. The work itself was also completely unfulfilling. I made it a few years before returning to a startup.
As opposed to working at a startup? Stability is way worse, base pay is lower on average, stock is an even bigger crapshoot, less perks, worse work-life balance. Work might be more fulfilling