- Working at Facebook is a dream job for many people in the tech world.
- But there are plenty of reasons to leave Facebook too, whether it's disagreements over the company's politics or simply the desire to work somewhere smaller.
- We compiled the stories of 11 former Facebook employees who shared why they left the social media giant.
Facebook is one of the biggest companies in the tech world, and for many people, getting a job at the social media giant is a dream come true.
It's no surprise why, as employees at the company have a median pay package of around $240,000 — not to mention perks like three weeks of paid vacation a year, four months of parental leave, and free housing and shuttle service for interns. Employees at Facebook ranked the company the seventh best place to work in the US for 2019, according to Glassdoor.
But there are plenty of reasons to leave Facebook, too. We spoke to former Facebook employees and gathered responses from others who have written about their experiences publicly.
Their responses range from disagreements over the company's politics and objections to last year's Cambridge Analytica data scandal, to their desires to work at smaller companies or found their own startups.
Read on to see why 11 former Facebook employees left the company.
SEE ALSO: Everyone wants to work at Google — but we found out how 15 ex-Googlers knew it was time to quit
DON'T MISS: The 50 best jobs in America for 2019
Mike Rognlien, founder of Multiple Hats Management
Former position at Facebook:"Builder of Awesome People"
Why he left: Rognlien worked on Facebook's learning and development team for six and a half years — he invented his title himself, he said — but left in 2017 as the company grew too big to fit his needs.
He told Fast Company that as Facebook grew, he didn't feel he was able to connect as much with the new employees he helped to onboard.
"I didn't want to spend my time as an anonymous speaker," he told Fast Company. "I wanted to be the person who could get to know others well. I wanted to have a bigger scope in a smaller group. I didn’t want Facebook to not succeed so I could be happy, and I didn’t want to become that person who’s drained, poison, or caustic.”
He left the company to found his own management consulting agency, Multiple Hats Management, where he retains the same title he had at Facebook — only now, he's "chief' builder of awesome people.
Debra Bednar-Clark, founder and CEO of DB+co
Former position at Facebook: Global head of strategy and growth
Why she left: Bednar-Clark left Facebook after four years to found her own company, DB+co, a career and leadership coaching firm for women. She launched the company in 2016.
In a press release, Bednar-Clark said she was inspired by Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and her "Lean In" movement, which urged women to take charge in the workplace.
Bednar-Clark told Business Insider's Libby Kane that recognizing it's time to leave your job begins with being honest about what you want.
"I think one of the things that it can be really easy for us to do is build a career we think we should do instead of one that is really aligned with who we are in that moment," she said.
Westin Lohne, intern at Thrive Capital
Former position at Facebook: Product designer
Why he left: Lohne quit Facebook in the wake of last year's bombshell report that Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics company that worked on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, had illegitimately obtained data from an estimated 87 million Facebook profiles.
He was one of several Facebook employees who either quit or asked to be transferred to another division within the company like Whatsapp or Instagram, after the news broke.
"The golden handcuffs are broken," Lohne said in a tweet. "Morally, it was extremely difficult to continue working there as a product designer."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider