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by bradjohnson 1185 days ago
Disclaimer: I currently work for Amazon but I would argue that their vesting schedule is their strongest selling point, especially in the current market. If you got into Amazon relatively recently, you're in a strong position for your take home pay.

The backloaded stock gives you stability up front with their high signing bonus, and high growth potential for TC assuming stock growth in two years. My pay is basically equalized over 4 years at current stock prices when I began, so my expected 4 year outlook without raises/performance bonuses/stock appreciation is:

Y1: ~70% Base, ~26% Bonus, ~4% Stock (5% total initial grant)

Y2: ~70% Base, ~18% Bonus, ~12% Stock (15% total initial grant)

Y3: ~70% Base, ~0% Bonus, ~30% Stock (40% total initial grant)

Y4: ~70% Base, ~0% Bonus, ~30% Stock (40% total initial grant)

Rough numbers, you get it. Not everyone has the same deal, but from what I've seen @ Amazon this is pretty standard and honestly significantly better than having to deal with the volatility of a 1 year initial vesting cliff like most public companies.

1 comments

It depends how old you are, how senior you are, and how likely you are to switch companies in a shitty situation. It works for a specific (perhaps more stable) archetype of engineering hire for sure!
At my last company, the stock price when I joined was at $150/share, it rose to over $200/share and crashed to under $30/share by the time my initial vesting date came. I lost six figures of expected TC based on my original offer (over half my total compensation). Since it was a 1 year cliff, I couldn't do anything to diversify or limit my risk because my RSUs were not mine until they vested.

Lesson learned, but I don't think there's an archetype of engineer that prefers that kind of risk profile over large cash payments each month. My downside for Y1 at Amazon is 4% of the agreed upon TC.

Oh, I COMPLETELY misread due to my biases. My fault. You are completely right.

Perhaps I'm not as good as a negotiator as I thought (or the schedules are within the past two years) b/c I haven't ever received an offer that balances the agreed upon TC as you describe. It sounds great!

I agree, I think it's mostly framed as something Amazon does to screw over employees by dangling stock they might not ever get a few years out. I'm not even arguing about the other points for the parent of my original comment, but the vesting schedule at Amazon is severely underrated in my opinion.
Why does it depend? You got your full market compensation in mostly cash for the first two years.
I misread and didn't realize the schedule changed from the offers I received 2+ years ago. This compensation structure is definitely my preference.
I was hired in 2020. My structure was

- Year 1: base + high prorated signing bonus + 5% stock vest

- Year 2: base + slightly lower signing bonus + 15% stock vest

- Year 3 and 4 - base + 40% stock vest

If the stock doesn’t move, you should make about the same amount Years 1 through 4 or slightly more.

That's awesome. Definitely wish I was in that situation right now. :)