GlobalFoundries (GF) is a semiconductor manufacturer (or fab), headquartered in the U.S., that employs a broad workforce from hourly workers to highly skilled engineers. GF faces tough competition for talent in the technology industry. It competes with “high techn” companies that offer competitive cash and equity compensation, but do not maintain a workforce as diverse as GF’s. Additionally, as a newly public company, there was a lot of excitement and demand for equity opportunities from employees.
GF sought to create a unique equity program to capture and build on this excitement to create an ownership culture. To this end, GF envisioned a simple design that would be well understood by its workforce, while managing financial considerations for the company.