At least for the subset of small that are startups, small companies vs big companies isn’t a comp discussion. You will win on comp going to the smaller guys. It’s whether you want to burn for the moon or you want to live a comfortable upper middle class life.

FAANG is 70% retirees, 30% dipole candle burners. And the 30% provide the value, while the 70% are along for the ride.

> FAANG is 70% retirees, 30% dipole candle burners. And the 30% provide the value, while the 70% are along for the ride.

See in 2005 when Google was gaining traction and notoriety, it was because they had the reputation of not suffering driftwood.

I was working for a giant transnational (full-on archaic org like that in "Office Space") at the time and found it really hard to fathom a company without apathy and drifters. I (foolishly) thought it ironic and dangerous that a company so determined not to suffers fools had free food, coffee, video games, table tennis, etc in the office. My office had an old crappy second-hand foosball table that was removed because it was "too much of a distraction" despite most people not using it from fear of a reprimand.

Fast foward nearly 20 years and I guess "corporate entropy" gets everyone, eventually.

Scott Locklin memorably declared Google to be in its "Fat Elvis" stage as early as 2011: https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/google-as-fat-...

I work in a FAANG and I can tell you than nobody in my team is slacking. Quite the opposite. Everybody is smart and working hard, there's no way you can cruise. I think all new members work even on weekends. A colleague of mine got fired because he didn't meet expectations for his level. He would have been totally fine in other companies. Turnover is high despite the high compensation.

I'm sure it depends on the company/team, but 70% of retirees, I think it's a myth.

Oh I have lots of friends at FAANGs. I also have lots of friends no longer there. The one thing I’ve learned is that people still at the company always assume that their team is fairly typical.

So all the hard workers describe the place as hard working. All the slackers describe it as relaxing.

Among the ex-FAANG, the hard workers describe their team as slacking. I don’t have any ex-FAANG slacker friends. They just stayed.

I’ve got 10 years of friends here and I’m fairly social so I think I’ve gotten a somewhat large sample, at least (if not unbiased).

Yes, there are way less slackers in FAANG. In the regular marketplace, a slacker who gets on the wrong side of management or just stale can usually find a comparable gig. FAANG, given recent stock market gains, pays at least twice the US average and matching that can be a serious stretch, particularly outside Bay Area.

Sounds like you're at the "N" company.

I don't know if that will have the effect you desire. It's not a secret that there are a lot of companies that pay less money than big tech. That doesn't stop people hungering for those big tech jobs. Having specific salary numbers doesn't seem likely to change the situation.

Must disagree. As someone working in an MBB, the total comp of a potential exit is 100% a daily topic of conversation.

IMO initially it's possible that folks will not be deterred but that is truly a matter of time and space for the knowledge to be available, make its way through and then impact people's behavior.

It sounds like you're disagreeing with something I didn't say. The person I replied to said that if small and medium businesses published compensation information, it would cause job seekers to prefer FAANG companies less. I said that was not true -- FAANG companies will still be very attractive to job seekers even if other businesses publish their salary info. Job seekers already know that smaller companies cannot match FAANG pay, and the exact amount of the deficit is not very important.