sharing what i saw for a senior SWE offer at Workday, role was in their Pleasanton office but they told me the comp band is the same across most US locations outside of SF proper.
base: $175k annual bonus target: 15% (so ~$26k) RSUs: $120k total, 4-year vest, no cliff total YC1 w/ target bonus: ~$200k, roughly
could probably have pushed base to $180k with a competing offer but i didn't have one at the time so i didn't push hard. their RSU vesting is backloaded (25% year 1, then accelerates) which is a little unusual. worth asking the recruiter about the schedule before you sign.
benefit package was solid, health coverage was good, 401k match is 50% up to 6% of salary. not the most aggressive tech comp but for an enterprise SaaS company outside of pure FAANG it's reasonable.
4 replies
contractor_kai
backloaded RSU vesting is a flag. ask specifically if it's a standard 4-year or one of those weird cliff-heavy structures. some enterprise companies vest 0% year 1, 20% year 2, then ramp. that's very different math from standard 25/25/25/25.
finance_faye
the 50% match to 6% is actually a standard 3% match in effect. worth noting because a lot of people read "50% up to 6%" and think it's more generous than it is. still fine, just not exceptional.
numbers_only
fair point, yeah. i just meant the coverage is solid, not that the match rate is exceptional. $175k base in the current market for that role felt reasonable, that was more my read.
firsttime_mgr
the base is fine but $120k in RSUs at Workday stock is a different risk profile than RSUs at a pure-play SaaS growth story. WDAY is a mature company, the upside is lower, which is the tradeoff you make for the stability. not a bad trade, just know what you're buying.