Sagging¹ valuations at upstart tech companies have undoubtedly² frustrated³ their venture capital backers in recent months. Employees who took company shares in lieu of big cash salaries may well be similarly peeved⁴. The question is whether they will be more forgiving of the cracks now appearing in their nest eggs. Part of Silicon⁵ Valley’s mythology⁶ has been about the rank-and-file workers who hitch⁷ themselves to corporate⁸ rocket ships full of share options. Soaring equity⁹ value has been a key component¹⁰ of morale¹¹, retention¹² and recruiting.

近几个月来，创业型科技企业的估值不断下降，无疑令作为其出资人的风险投资家感到郁闷。不领高薪、反而持有公司股份的员工，很可能感到同样恼怒。问题在于，他们是否将更能容忍自己的“留窝蛋”上如今出现的裂痕。一直以来，人们对硅谷抱有一些错误的幻想，其中之一就是普通员工能够搭乘满载股票期权的公司“宇宙飞船”直飞冲天。股权价值大幅上升，一直是公司维持士气、留住和招募人才的一个关键因素。

Simply based on price movements, the situation would now appear to be grim. Twitter is perhaps the most notorious example. Its shares are 7 per cent below their flotation price two years ago and virtually every crucial executive post at the social network has turned over since the listing. In an illustration of its reliance on equity, more than a quarter of direct and operating expenses ($526m) for the first nine months of 2015 at the company are attributable to stock compensation. Several other big-name tech companies are also down on their recent initial public offering prices. Among them are GoPro (30 per cent), Box (7 per cent), and Etsy (40 per cent). Even late-stage private companies Dropbox and Snapchat have suffered sharp markdowns by mutual¹³ funds that invest in them.

仅仅从股价变动来讲，目前的局势看来很严峻。Twitter可能是最声名狼藉的一个例子。其股价较两年前发行价低7%，自上市以来，这家社交媒体公司的几乎每一个关键高管职位都换人了。2015年前三个季度公司的直接和运营费用（5.26亿美元），有超过四份之一用于支付员工股票报酬，这表明了该公司对股权报酬方式的依赖。还有几家知名科技公司的股价也低于不久前的发行价，其中包括GoPro（低30%）、Box（低7%）和Esty（低40%）。甚至晚期未上市企业Dropbox和Snapchat，也被投资它们的共同基金大幅调低估值。

And employee shares typically do not come with the downside protection that venture capital investors¹⁴ are able to negotiate. As such, they are most penalised by falling valuations. But in spite of a job market that remains¹⁵ hot — one venture capitalist says headhunters are too busy to take his new staffing assignments — staff turnover¹⁶ may not be about to spike¹⁷. Michael Morell, a founder¹⁸ of recruiting firm Riviera Partners in California, says: “There is no groundswell of turnover. Really, only a sliver¹⁹ of people are affected²⁰ by falling valuations and those are employees who have joined in the last six months. Workers are still deeply in the money … Time horizons to big pay-offs, though, have been extended. But guys who are pissed off are still doing OK”.

员工所持股份通常得不到跌价保护，那是风险投资家才能争取到的待遇。因此，公司估值下降，他们是最惨的。但是，尽管就业市场仍然红红火火（一位风险投资家表示，猎头公司太忙了，无法接受他的招聘委托），但员工流动率可能还不会大幅升高。加利福尼亚猎头公司Riviera Partners创始人迈克尔莫雷尔(Michael Morell)说：“目前没有发生大规模人才流动的情况。实际上，只有一小部分人受到估值下降的影响，就是那些近6个月入职的员工。员工们仍非常有钱……就是获得高回报的期限被拉长了。不过，那些心里生气的家伙们，目前状况仍很不错。”

One reason employees are staying put is that, after companies go public, they shift from paying in riskier²¹ private company stock options to more stable “restricted stock” which retain value better. But it may also be that tech workers are not motivated by chasing every last dollar.

员工按兵不动的一条原因是，公司上市之后，它们支付的不再是风险更高的私人公司股票期权，而是更保值、更稳定的“限制性股票”。但是，可能也是因为科技公司的员工没有兴趣为了高一点点的工资而不断跳槽。

Silicon Valley’s top companies — Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon — can still hang on to their staff in the face of competition because they offer a combination of stable pay and perks²², such as free meals and even fertility treatments. In addition, shares in these four companies are up an average of 50 per cent this year. One former human relations executive at a big private company describes the problem for start-ups: “Google and a select group of Valley firms effectively set the bar for engineering talent. Rich cash packages and equity layered over time creates a disincentive at best and handcuffs at worst.”

面对人才争夺战，Facebook、谷歌(Google)、苹果(Apple)和亚马逊(Amazon)等硅谷的顶级公司仍可以留住员工，因为他们提供稳定的薪水和额外福利，比如免费餐食和助孕治疗方面的补助。此外，今年这4家公司股价的平均涨幅达50%。一家大型私人公司的前人力资源高管描述了创业型企业的这个问题：“谷歌等数家硅谷顶尖公司实际上为技术人才的待遇设立了标准。丰厚的现金酬劳计划，加上随年限增长的股权，往好里说是阻止员工离职的一个因素，往坏里说会带来桎梏。”

When engineers do defect, it’s not all about the money. Says Mr Morrell, the recruiter: “Money seems to be the second, third, or fourth priority. It isn’t the catalyst²³. For a lot of workers, the question is how much traction²⁴ does the new company have? Companies are going to have to articulate a real story to convince candidates to jump ship.”

当工程师真的跳槽时，所涉及的不全是钱的问题。猎头莫雷尔说：“金钱的重要性似乎排到了第二位、第三位，甚至第四位。金钱不是促使员工决心跳槽的因素。对于众多员工而言，问题在于，这家新公司有多大的吸引力？公司们将不得不讲实话，来说服候选人跳槽过来。”

That money-first culture may be quietly shifting on Wall Street, too. Start-up boutique banks continue to sprout²⁵. Founders²⁶ concede that part of their calculation is the chance to keep more of the fees they generate for themselves. But they also say that they also want to be unshackled from the bureaucracy of the big banks.

在华尔街，金钱至上的文化可能也在悄然改变。创业型精品银行继续遍地开花。创始人承认，他们的部分考量在于有机会把他们创造的收费中的更多份额留给自己。但他们还表示，他们也想摆脱大银行的官僚作风。

For younger financiers, private equity firms such as Blackstone have been touting²⁷ generous maternity²⁸ leave programmes. Bank graduate trainee²⁹ programmes, known for their gruelling hours, have softened³⁰ their demands. Goldman Sachs has also implemented³¹ steps to “retain our most talented people for the long term” rather than simply allowing them to defect to hedge fund jobs after two years. Junior analysts³² can now be promoted directly to the next rung — associate — without having to earn an MBA degree. Traditional MBA recruiting for banks has weakened substantially so the move to hold on to the most junior bankers is savvy³³.

黑石(Blackstone)等私人股本公司一直在标榜慷慨的产假计划，以吸引更年轻的金融业人士。以疯狂加班而闻名的银行管理培训生项目，如今也更加仁慈了。高盛(Goldman Sachs)也采取了一些措施，希望“长期留住我们最有才华的员工”，而不是让他们在两年之后跳槽到对冲基金去。如今，初级分析师不必取得MBA学位，就可以直接晋升至更高一级的副经理。银行业原本是MBA毕业生的一个传统去向，但如今银行业对MBA毕业生的吸引力已大幅下降，所以努力留住大多数初级员工的做法是明智的。

But even with Saturday nights no longer spent in the office, it remains to be seen what Wall Street can offer to tempt³⁴ the suddenly idealistic.

但是，即使周六晚上不再得在办公室度过，我们尚不知道华尔街能用什么手段留住那些突然想要去追寻理想的员工。