Comment by mrSolomonGrundy

Perhaps this will give you some perspective, perhaps not, decide for yourself :)

Most comments I’ve read seem to come from folks who are NOT working for Meta. Guess it makes sense, few people are. It’s much easier to answer and judge from that position. While these comments are interesting reads, not sure if they are adding the insights the question wants.

While I am not with Meta, I do work for an HFT, which arguably have even worse reputation than Meta. FYI - I’m in tech and make $1-2mm, depending on the year. Some random observations from past years:

- you can rationalize pretty much anything. I do think that vast majority of the people in the firm think of themselves as good people. I like to think that this holds true even for the absolutely most abysmal pages of human history. E.g. I find it hard to believe that the average Nazi thought of themselves as bad.

- your co-workers are really smart and friendly. We encourage collaboration and some work-life balance, so that people rarely burn out. People are super dedicated and in general love coming to work. I know tens of really high net worth individuals who keep coming each day and staying voluntarily long hours since they just enjoy what they are doing.

- the firm does a lot of charity work, tens of millions each year. People are incentivized to give back, via various matching programs and volunteer opportunities. E.g. Some go for weeks just to do volunteering and it’s partially offset in your PTO. Some spend six figures+ on their favorite charities. Whether it makes them a better or worse person than you dear reader, it is not for me so say. I personally do less of this, but still try to chime in a couple $k / help a few times in a year. Regardless of what you do, you could try it, it tends to make you feel better.

- I am yet to meet an asshole who lasted more than 1-2 years. The firm eradicates this kind of behavior religiously.

- there is a strong belief among the workers that there is value in what we do and that we are one of the ‘good’ HFTs. I did not think that when I joined, but now I do. Again, you can rationalize a lot and the firm has subtle messaging to shape people with time.

- I guess it goes without saying, but the pay package allows you to lead a very different kind of life.

- I have been hiring the absolutely top of the class of top of the universities for a while now (HFTs get the absolutely first pick, way ahead of the big tech). None of the students seemed to have any problem with the firms mission, or lack of thereof. All of them dreamed of landing the gig. I’ve rejected really smart people who failed the behavioral (I.e assholes) regularly.

- finally, I’ve rejected offers of $3mm+ from firms I believe to be evil (you are virtually bombarded with offers each week if you make in the HFT world. Think of the AI hype, just 24/7 and since 2000s :) ). But I can easily imagine taking these from places which I consider only slightly more evil.