When laying people off, better companies will often accelerate vesting so that the departing employees get additional stock. For example, Google does this:
replyWe’ll also offer a severance package starting at 16 weeks salary plus two weeks for every additional year at Google, and accelerate at least 16 weeks of GSU vesting.
https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/message-ceo/j...
Google did this in 2023, and this blog was a good PR move to make people think they are still doing this today.
replyOK but for most people a 16-week acceleration is still forfeiting 92% of unvested shares.
replyBy the same logic, wouldn't 4 months of severance pay be equivalent to forfeiting 92% of salary?
replyFor something paid at regular intervals like RSUs, you really should never be looking at the total value of the grant, and instead think of it in terms of how many shares per paycheck/month/quarter/year you vest.
If you've got a cliff coming up, that's different. I'd be pissed if a company laid me off 11.5 months into a 12 month cliff or a few weeks before an annual bonus and didn't accelerate the vesting / bonus.
That's exactly my point. "Losing" your RSUs is the same as losing all your other income that you did not earn because you don't work there any more.
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replyThat's what the contract would typically say. But it's not uncommon to have accelerated vesting either when parting on good terms or with severance.
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