Two recent Waymo offers shared on Levels.fyi tell the story:
- An L3 software-engineer package that vests RSUs over two years, 50 percent each year.
- An L5 package that keeps the classic four-year, evenly split design.
That contrast hints at a deliberate split strategy: shorter horizons for early-career hires, longer runways for senior talent. The logic tracks. New grads often treat their first role as a springboard, so a two-year vest ensures most of their grant actually pays out before they move on. For seasoned engineers, who hold bigger grants and deeper domain knowledge, Waymo still wants the retention pull of a four-year schedule.
Waymo isn’t alone. Across tech, equity timelines are turning into a tuning knob:
- Lyft issues single-year new-hire grants, then refreshes annually.
- Uber front-loads at 35 / 30 / 20 / 15.
- NVIDIA moved to 40 / 30 / 20 / 10.
- Pinterest compresses to roughly 50 / 33 / 17 over three years.
- A handful of high-growth startups grant two-year blocks by default.
What’s driving the shift?
1. Pay-for-performance. Shorter cycles let companies re-price grants and reward top performers without being locked into four-year promises.
2. Dilution math. Fewer unvested shares lower equity overhang, especially valuable when stock prices spike.
3. Flexibility. Refreshers become the main retention lever, not year-three and year-four vest cliffs.
4. Talent liquidity. For early-career hires, faster access to equity can feel more tangible than a promise that’s years away.
If you’re negotiating, remember that earlier liquidity doesn’t always mean bigger upside. Always compare total grant size, ask how refreshers are determined, and run the tax math on concentrated vesting events.
Have you seen a two-year or front-loaded schedule in your offer recently? Comment below with your thoughts and I’ll send over a vesting report we put together here at Levels.fyi.
vestingschedule
This post was originally shared by on Linkedin.