I am really curious if anyone knows how significant the stock options are at JG14 and above (though with current conditions, one could argue about their actual value). In other words, are the options actually enough to entice people to stick around for longer considering the uncertainty of the current situation, or are they more of a nominal amount? I've noticed a difference in reaction to the current climate that seems to be aligned somewhat with job grade, but it is unclear to me if that is due to age/loyalty, or because of a financial incentive to put on the rose colored glasses and hope that things turn around significantly in the next few years.
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Well, I am leaving before mine get paid out for next year. With that said, I am not the typically 20+ year lackey who acts entitled and I actually want to add value and work.
The entire compensation structure at 3M is a disgrace.
Stock options / RSUs in the 2000-2010 time frame paid a lot of college bills for parents. 2010-2020 maybe paid off a little but certainly not worth the effort and stress. Still not sure what the magic formula is when granting stock options / RSUs. Used to be Leadership Behavior scores gave a general direction on what to expect. Now with the HR YE rating system I have no clue.
I recently left (JG17) and had a lot of worthless options. Some were at $233! The simple fact is that at just about any other company… you will make significantly more base, bonus, and stock. No reason to stay at 3M.
Thanks for the really useful insights; this is exactly the information I was looking for!
In my opinion it's not enough. JG 14 gets around $20k in RSUs (as another poster mentioned people are probably taking RSUs instead of options), which were given in Feb and have already lost value. Also not vested for 3 years. I could easily go somewhere else and get a signing bonus of that amount which would be cash in my pocket.
I had a decent amount of options. Some weren’t vested and I still left because it was just money. It wasn’t worth my mental or emotional health to stay at this place. I craved more for my job. I wanted leaders who knew how to lead. I wanted a job that didn’t cause me to wake up panicking in the middle of the night. I don’t regret leaving.
Short answer, no. The options are not enough for JG14+ to stay, especially JG14 and JG15.
- It just isn't that much money, especially if only RSUs are taken. Think $20k/year pre-tax for JG14, $35k/year at JG16. Against a $200k base salary at JG16, it just isn't that much money.
- Nearly all options taken are very much underwater right now. Some are $100 a share underwater. Even the year 2013 options are only about $10/share in the money and those expire in February.
Lastly, many option holders cashed out fully at $200+/share in 2017-2019. They have very few options at the moment anyway, their money has already been made.
No one will be taking options most will be selecting RSU
The number of RSU you get depends on the stock price at the point of issue … now if you expect the stock price to drop in the next years then of course they are worth less as a mechanism for long term incentive …
They are worth negative amount of dollars currently. They are not an incentive for anyone in upper management right now; we would all be selling at a loss if we joined any time within the last five to seven years.
Not sure how much they're worth, but I suppose it could influence some people's decisions. If it's only 5% or 10% of someone's salary, seems ridiculous if that would be enough to entice someone to wait it out and hope the layoff axe doesn't come for them in the mean time. Cut your losses and move on if you're looking anyway! If it's 30% or 50% like some tech company upper level employees, different story.