Why isn't 'Total Compensation' always including equity? (We let Respondents decide)
Equity does not always behave like cash compensation. At young startups, or in companies without a clear path to liquidity, equity may never convert into cash. If the company fails, the equity may ultimately be worth nothing. Early-stage employees generally understand that this kind of equity is closer to a lottery ticket than guaranteed compensation.
Because of this, Salary Confidential does not automatically calculate Total Compensation by adding all compensation components together. Instead, respondents can choose whether they consider their equity a 'sure-enough' component to include in their Total Compensation.
If they choose to include it, TC is calculated as:
cash base + cash bonuses + equity (annualized)
If they do not, TC is calculated as:
cash base + cash bonuses
In all cases, the equity information itself is still collected. If the survey includes the Extended Equity section, those values are used in the equity-specific analyses regardless of whether the respondent included equity in their TC number.