This is part of a series that dives into my years at Roblox. Quick link back to the main post here, where it has links to all the topics I have discussed so far.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in my blog posts are opinions of my own and does not reflect any views/opinions/positions of Roblox.
The pay
The best aspect of working at Roblox must be the benefits. Although benefits never surpassed those of the big tech from the heydays. No, we never had child care services, no laundry services, no regular free massages. But Roblox does provide a lot other benefits that makes you feel valued working for them.
First and foremost is compensation. Roblox has one of the highest base pay in tech. According to levels.fyi, high end IC3 at Roblox pays at much as an L5 at Google (Link). Despite the base pay, Builders’s stock compensation is generally valued lower, stemming from stock price volatility. In result, many are drawn to this higher base pay, but later realize that their total compensation might actually be lower after accounting for equity value growth. In the end, higher base pay ultimately allows you the freedom to do what you’d like immediately without going through equity vesting schedules.
The Lifestyle/Wellness Benefits
Auxiliary benefits, outside of pay, is really where Roblox shines. Things like extra “spendy money”, parental leave policy, etc. Although there has been different iterations of these benefits, these benefits have made leaps and bounds since when I first started. To start, even in recent years, we were given a sum of money each year to spend for our “lifestyle.” Basically things like, exercise equipments, pet care/meds, home office setup are counted for “lifestyle.” Some restrictions did apply understandably. (no, you can’t pay your electricity bill with this money because you work from home Monday and Friday.)
Other then this “spendy money”, Roblox provides Caltrain passes. Caltrain passes came with their own set of controversies. A lot of Builders live in the East Bay to save some money on housing. Builders in this camp cannot utilize this pass and asks for buses/shuttles every quarter. Rationale is that is we can’t take advantage of the value of Caltrain passes, maybe we can recapture the same value through saved bridge tolls. However, management pushed back on this hard, which alienates those of us that lives across the bay – at least you can use the “spendy money” to cover your tolls. And if you drive an electric car, HQ has reduced rate charging! Definitely a plus!
Lately, Roblox even brings in wellness services into the office. These are things like on-site dentist, health screening, etc. These are wildly popular and super hard to get a spot. But by far the most under utilized benefit is the sport/nutrition coaches on-site. Yes! On-site sport/nutrition coaches! Getting a spot is not hard at all and they provide with valuable insights and actionable plan to a better you. Though you have to understand that from the company’s point-of-view, the more healthy you are, the longer hours you can work.
The time-off
And finally, time-off… Much like a lot of other tech companies, time-off is technically “unlimited” it really isn’t unlimited. The company has changed its wording from “unlimited PTO” to “flexible PTO” over time. This policy is great on the surface. Experiences between different teams can be a bit different.
One can take PTO as long as their manager approves. When I left the company, procedures were to verbally get approval from one’s manager, then enter it into the system after verbal approval. Verbal approval from manager become a point of contention. As the company grew, so did the number of team and, naturally, the number of managers. Luckily, I was in a team with a good manager that approves pretty much any time-off requests. But, there are teams that getting approvals may not be as simple. Since it is up to the manager, I’ve heard of cases where time-off is micromanaged and even denied upon request. Appealing to our People Team may or may not produce results as policy is “manager’s discretion.” But again, this is yet another aspect of the company that must change as the company grows…
To sum it up, working for Roblox comes with a lot of great benefits! Compared to other industries, you can’t beat these benefits. Although not as glorious as other big tech companies, those same big tech companies have also cut back on employee benefits. So Roblox definitely come up as one of the top. As long as you’re smart with your money (high base pay, lower stock equity), Roblox’s total compensation definitely makes you feel valued as an employee!