No, most big companies don't have cliffs anymore (Google, Facebook, etc...). They pay out monthly or quaterly. At least if you already worked for a while elsewhere (because they have to buy you out basically).

Why would you otherwise take the risk?

I'm curious about Microsoft- anyone know if Microsoft has a cliff on RSUs?

My non-new-grad employment with Microsoft had a 1yr vesting cliff. As others have previously mentioned, as long as it’s an established company I see no issue with this since you get a solid signing bonus if continued cash flow is the concern.

This is to the point - cash bonus can compensate this somewhwat. And cash bonus typically doesnt have to be paid back in case of layoff.

I saw a recent (< 3 months) offer from MSFT and it contained the „standard“ 4y vesting schedule with a 1y cliff and then quarterly vesting after.

I think removing the vesting cliff is great but personally I am not worried as I never sew the cliff as a problem.

I should clarify that my experience is with startups (pre-seed to B stage etc) not FAANGs or big cos.

It is the case, but it seems like it only persists because it is traditional. I'm not aware of any basis by which the employees should be willing to accept deferred comp for the first year. It sets up all kinds of bad incentives.

I'm right here with you — along with having standard very long exercise windows… 10 years or whatnot.

I've both chosen to exercise and not exercise on a short 30-day window but balancing FOMO vs future regret is hard with the volatility of a typical startup.