Manager at a different FAANG here. I had a very senior (not L9) engineer laid off on my team. The thing about super senior ICs is that they have super high expectations, ones that are easy to miss. It’s almost silly every performance review season, we sit down and go “what did this person do to redefine the industry this cycle?”. Unfortunately, when the answer is “not much” or they simply wrote great code, they get a low rating. At places where curves for ratings exist, these folks frequently fill in the lower portions of those curves - despite appearing to crush it from the outside, they’re just not hitting all expectations.
The end result of all of this is that when senior leaders set filters for who is laid off, these folks get hit. Multiple cycles of subpar ratings, it’s an easy decision looking at the numbers. Maybe not a good decision, but that’s where these systems have led.
The end result of all of this is that when senior leaders set filters for who is laid off, these folks get hit. Multiple cycles of subpar ratings, it’s an easy decision looking at the numbers. Maybe not a good decision, but that’s where these systems have led.