Anatomy of two Netflix offers

Today I’d like to share with you two recent Netflix job offers:

Netflix job offer #1

• Job Title: Engineering Manager
• Job offer: : $800,000
• Sign bonus: None
• Restricted Stock Unites (RSUs) or stock options: Netflix only offers one number. Keep reading this article for background and context.
• Work Experience: 15+ years

Netflix job offer #2:

• Job Title: Software Development Engineer (SDE)
• Job offer: $610,000
• Sign on bonus: none
• Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) or stock options: Keep reading to learn about how compensation works at Netflix
• Work Experience: 10+ years

Observation:

You might wonder why there isn’t any sign-on bonus, annual performance bonus, Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) or stock options.

This is because Netflix has a very unique compensation structure:

1. It pays at top of the market for each role
2. Each employee is offered 1 total compensation number
3. Employees can choose all cash, all options, or whatever combination suit them the best.  They choose how much risk and upside/downside they want. These 10-year stock options are fully-vested and employees keep them even if they leave Netflix

In 2020, the table below shows how Netflix executives allocated their compensation to cash vs. stock options:

 

Recently, Netflix stock price took a big hit.

According to CNBC, “Netflix shares are now down about 45% from their record intraday high in November and are trading at their lowest since April 2020, when Covid-19 was in the early days of shutting down the U.S. economy. The plunge has been so precipitous it’s almost as if the pandemic never happened for Netflix investors.”

Low stock price might not be a bad thing for job candidates who are interested in Netflix. You might have more upside if you join a company when its stock price is at a lower point. However, I’m not a financial advisor, and I don’t know which direction Netflix stock is headed in the next 12 to 24 months. As a interview coach, I can help you land an Netflix offer, but I’m not a financial advisor who can help you manage your money. 🙂