I don't think so at all. I have worked hard, and had a lot of fun at now two of the FAANG's. Sure the reward has not been like winning the startup lottery, but if you told myself 20 years ago I would have this impact and earn this much money I would not have believed it. I totally suck at politics, and have seen others rise quicker, but doing good work does get rewarded in my experience.

I would think FAANG would be considered as "endgame company" for many. Including myself.

Back in the day you wanted in to get shares before they went public. Then the dream was to cashout and using your google money you can create something. Then people stopped getting stocks but used it to get funding. Then there are the people who get in any position for less than 2 years and use that expereince to get a CTO job at a smaller org.

Why do you consider it your endgame? Top salary? Interesting problems? Making a difference?

This is an interesting question. I moved into to IT/Security from another sector, and I'm trying to figure out my endgame. At least at my company, there aren't any jobs I covet. Most of the higher ups don't impress me, and they don't seem to know what's going on in their company very well. It seems like if I moved into leadership, I'd have to spend a lot of time lying-via-powerpoint. (that is, taking a complex problem, and both simplifying and misrepresenting in a powerpoint which shows "progress" happening.)

I wasn't a loser in my old career, and I don't want to be a loser in tech. But, it seems like everyone is a loser here. IT/Security is seen as a well-paid janitor; someone you need, but not someone you really care to learn about. Worse, becoming "important" in a company seems to be useful only in so far as you have sway at that particular company. ie, it's a lot of work for some very local, and very useless prestige. And worse, there's no external meaning other than your own status. Why do I care if I have a little fiefdom within company walls? Nothing worthwhile is being accomplished, it's just more sales.

I think endgame is considered differently by different people, i.e. endgame for me is financial independence through micro-ventures thus FAANG, which I'm considering right now would just be to pay the bills and create a comfortable financial buffer until I can leave them taking with me the ex-google/facebook/netflix badge and cash on hand.

I honestly think you can do it if you want even not knowing much about you. People there are not all special. If you want some tips or a referral let me know, email is my username @ gmail.

I guess this observation doesn’t really apply to the FAANGs quite as much. They have such an insatiable demand for labor that it’s much easier to work your way up to more money consistently over time.

I guess you just find the level you want to coast at. I haven’t won the start up lottery either. But I have been able to be fully employed as a contractor with a very good hourly rate for quite a long time. Which probably means I’m coasting right now. But I still manage to bump my rates up every so often, so maybe not.

Seems like you are doing pretty well. Coasting means different things to different people, do what’s right for you. Just make sure there are no regrets later, life is too short for that.

Sometimes that means coasting and spending more time on your hobbies or with your family. Can’t see anything wrong with that.

A friend of mine just doubled his salary. He wanted to resign and look for an other job, but his company offered him double salary.

If your work makes you an important person in the company, you have a strong basis for negotiation. Most people just don't use it...

kudos to your friend, but signalling your intent to leave is red flag for management

often times companies will opt to pay more as a stop-gap until they find a cheaper replacement

I honestly think this is a myth propogated by managers to discourage negotiation

They know the game, no employee ever is going to stay if they're being paid half their market value. "Commitment" my ass lol. But more to the point in order to replace you they have to pay market value for your job. They can only find someone cheaper if your job is beneath you.

Parlaying offers is fine as long as the work they need doing is worth that money. Who are they going to replace you with? Hiring is expensive even if they find a sucker. The only risk is if your market value is higher than they need to pay to get your job done.

maybe, i'm not saying employees shouldn't negotiate but there's a lot of ways it can backfire so you might be better of hopping to another company at that point, rather than waiting around to have the rug pulled out from underneath you

I agree, but it's still cheaper to counteroffer than to hire someone new if the demand is market price for that job. There's big overhead in replacing you.

Fundamentally the operative variable is: "can they get your job done for less than you're demanding." That's what matters, more than the impression of commitment.

Only if the company realize your important.