[35mm_guy]

FAANG is just big business these days - beside the usual corporate issues, FAANG created many new corporate problems on their own. Entitlement and the signal to noise ratio are the worst offenders, and of course stacked ranking that is practiced in one form or another.

What FAANG these days has going for it is just the compensation. But that attracts the wrong crowd when compensation is the only motivator to work for a company. Talk to hiring managers, they have a ton of issues on the hire and fire front.

You might be surprised, but most high potentials are looking beyond compensation and want to do something they can identify with and are passionate about while having a good work-life balance. One of the things that makes them high potentials to begin with, compared to the leetcode solvers, who are a dime a dozen and are just compliant little worker bees who glady exploits themselves.

For me FAANG was a good time, but as a seasoned professional I never had to jump through any hoops. But it's not the FAANG I once joined and was passionate about. That FAANG is not at home anymore. Sure, YMMV. Just my personal experience and point of view.