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#jobs-discuss
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2021-10-01
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gklijs06:10:49

Something that just crossed my mind. Any clear pros or cons for working for a company listed on a stock exchange?

gklijs06:10:03

I at least once had a disadvantage when they there was a stop on any expenses like additional memory, just to get a bit less quarterly numbers.

pwojnowski07:10:45

I don't know if all such componies look the same, but I worked for such company and the just fired (or let them go?) people to make the numbers better at the end of the financial year.

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gklijs07:10:27

Probably not all, but sometimes the additional pressure to keep stock holders happy becomes evident. I guess the big upside should be they got more money to burn if all goes well.

andrea.crotti09:10:31

I've only worked at a company that went from being non listed to being listed

andrea.crotti09:10:05

the advantage would be that if you were an early employee you might get to finally sell your shares. But I think the atmosphere overall might change significantly, since the management will have massive external pressure.

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dgb2309:10:51

My political and cynical view is that they shift focus from workers and customers to owners and regulators. But there are enough exceptions and nuances that make this statement only half true.

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futuro16:10:13

I've worked for publicly traded as well as private (but investor-funded) companies, and the only difference I've found is that the publicly traded companies are more open about their profit motive, and instead of stock options (worthless) you might get stock grants instead (probably worth something).

mattly18:10:02

I work for a publicly-traded company

mattly18:10:19

If you get compensated with RSUs, there are advantages and disadvantages to that aspect of it

mattly18:10:52

But in general I traded working with clojure for peanuts, for working for a large company for a lot greater compensation

mattly18:10:01

A disadvantage to having compensation in RSUs is that while you are taxed at the value of the stock when the RSUs vest, you can typically only sell that stock during an open trading window

mattly18:10:33

If the value of the stock goes down, you paid taxes on the asset/compensation at a higher rate than your ability to realize the asset

mattly18:10:54

Also I have to say that this job at the publicly traded company is perhaps the first place where I haven’t been asked to do anything shady

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the2bears21:10:02

At least in the SF Bay Area RSUs as part of the compensation package are generally in addition to the base salary. It's that way for the bigger names, definitely, with Netflix being one of the few exceptions. They pay almost all cash and at a level that meets the base + RSU component of the others. So in that case, an advantage of the publicly traded company is that RSUs can be given out as additional incentive. Truly a pair of golden handcuffs though 🙂