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I’ve been a designer at Facebook for 3+ years and although I can’t speak for the folks who’ve left, I can speculate and tell you why I’m still there. I don’t think there’s something inherently different about the designers that choose to stay at Facebook and those who don’t. Instead, I think it depends on the circumstances you encounter while you’re there.

Here are a few reasons why I think a designer may choose to leave Facebook:

• Luck probably plays a big role in someone’s experience at Facebook. In my 3+ years in the company I’ve worked on 4 teams and 2 countries and every experience has felt like a drastically different company. Facebook puts a lot of effort to allocation to find a good match between the team and the individual’s needs. However, the process is not perfect and sometimes folks land on the wrong team. This can dramatically affect your experience and if not corrected quickly, leads to attrition. Most designers that leave Facebook before the 3 year mark, have only worked under a single team or organization and attribute their experience on that team to the whole company.
• “People don’t quit companies, they quit managers.” Your experience will also fluctuate drastically depending on your manager and how well positioned they are within the organization. Finding a manager that understands your career goals and actually has the authority and disposition to fight for you is very hard and it requires a lot of self awareness from the IC and Design Manager.
• It’s easier to get a promotion by switching companies than from the inside. If what you’re looking for is a manager or director role at a tech company, the path of least resistance seems to be switching companies. I’ve never done this myself but I imagine there’s some validity there given that transitioning to a leadership role requires the whole team to recalibrate their expectations towards you, which can be easier if starting from a clean slate.
• Facebook can be a great place to learn entrepreneurial skills. Teams are operated like mini startups within the broader organization and the access to so much talent helps you build a good network. Designers are expected to collaborate intimately with their cross functional partners and work on their communication skills to convince entire teams to head on a certain direction. For these reasons, I’ve seen folks “graduate” from Facebook and leave to pursue their passion as an entrepreneur.

Here are a few reasons why I think a designer may choose to stay at Facebook:

• Facebook’s scale and reach is unparalleled by many others. The company’s audacity when thinking about people problems is incredibly energizing and stimulating. This is nice for the ego, but also allows folks to think about problems in a way that other companies usually don’t.
• Facebook’s culture attracts a lot of brilliant people who feel like they’re doing the best work in their lives. This spirit is contagious and creates a great deal of comradery. In addition, employees often form social circles among each other and the lines between co-workers and friends are often blurred. So, leaving Facebook can sometimes feel like leaving your social tribe.
• Whether we like it or not, saying you work at Facebook usually comes with a great deal of validation. The process to get in is rigorous and unforgiving. Designers who get in get to work with other great designers and are held to a high bar of execution, this breeds a great deal of confidence and opportunities for them.
• It seems like an epitomical tech company: it was founded by a couple of drop-outs who figured out how to chase an idea and find success despite all odds. Whether you’re pro or anti Facebook, I think it’s difficult to deny its success. It’s a company that has managed to remain relevant despite the many changes in tech and social media over the last decade. So, in a way, the pros and cons of working at Facebook seem like an inevitability within large scale tech companies. So if you are committed to staying in tech, leaving Facebook and joining another tech company seems like would be faced with similar results.