I find this vesting schedule being brought up strange (I see this somewhat frequently). On hiring you get a signing bonus, in my case the value of this bonus made my comp almost flat for those 4 years if the share price remained constant. If anything, this additional cash, which was given each month, was a positive when starting out. Vesting is inherently lumpy, and makes managing cash flow a bit more tricky. I also received base increases despite a very large stock price increase.
On 401k, I'm not in the US so cannot comment.
Your other points around timelines and pages don't match my experience, but I assume that in such a large company they do exist. I have certainly heard of a team where the high sev counts were similar to the numbers you give. Perhaps I am lucky to have missed them, or others are unlucky to have experienced them.
On 401k, I'm not in the US so cannot comment.
Your other points around timelines and pages don't match my experience, but I assume that in such a large company they do exist. I have certainly heard of a team where the high sev counts were similar to the numbers you give. Perhaps I am lucky to have missed them, or others are unlucky to have experienced them.