Opinions on Google's alternate stock vesting schedule?

Question

I just learnt about Google's alternate stock vesting schedule where the first 40% of GSU vests in the 1st year [1]. My first reaction was of puzzlement. Thinking further, I thought this was a brilliant idea to continue having competitive offers. In my (limited) past experience, I've found Google offers to be slightly under compared to similar companies in the Bay Area.I was wondering what the HN community thinks of this move from Google. How (un)friendly is it to potential employees? What kind of cascading effect would it have on compensation?[1] https://www.levels.fyi/company/Google/salaries/#:~:text=Alternatively%2C%20Google%20also%20has%20the,GSU%20(Google%20Stock%20Unit).

brudgers · Accepted Answer

Google is a large company. It's enterprise, not a startup. Stock grants are not an incentive to retain employees while working toward a liquidation event...Google IPO'd the better part of twenty years ago. It's no big deal if an employee leaves because the typical employee is not a critical hire. The typical employee is a fungible body selected from the best available at the moment.