[croutonwagon]

I have always felt the desire to work at FAANG was diametrically opposed to having a family life.

Its seems to be an extremely competitive, eat or die type lifestyle that would require many more hours than a normal job. In essence its its own marriage of sorts, or at least in competition for non-work relationships/marriages.

And there's nothing wrong with the people that choose to do that. But it seems obvious even in the success stories.

I'm extremely competitive, however I also value family over all else. I would much rather spends dinners with my kids, and weekends with my family enjoying the fruits of my labor over having a line on my resume. I know that if i ever went that route, it would absolutely come at a cost, most likely my marriage at least, and probably some level of relationship with my children. Its frankly not worth it for me.

[UK-Al05]

I feel like FAANG jobs are the most conducive to family life compared to small companies or startups.

They have maternity leave, and they have resources so you don't have to be on call constantly as it is with smaller companies.

[croutonwagon]

Generally, amongst my peers over time I’ve found that to not be as true. Though of course it depends on a number of factors, including leadership and company culture.

I could easily take some time if needed. My senior admin is taking a month of paternity here in a few weeks, as he did with his first. I have a first line guy that has been in and out for months for various reasons. It is a strain on others in small places but like any place if you document and cross train a bit it’s not terrible.frankly it’s a stated goal for my teams and something I have implemented across several roles and sectors in my career (even if I didn’t get to reap the benefits)

Colleagues of mine that went FAANG stated similar. Amazon notoriously has an unlimited time off policy. That buddy hasn’t made the family vacation tradition since he started. The first year he tried it he basically worked in the condo.

So from what I’ve seen, at least with Amazon, it’s de facto cutthroat and not so much a benefit.

Though I understand I’m possibly attributing that same experience, which may even be localized to his team, to a much broader set, based on the similarities of their culture/workplace.

Many of these places have showers and lounges and free food etc. and frankly I don’t want to work at a place that there’s a culture that encourages eating and sleeping there. Again I prefer to do those things at home or break from work during breaks.