In brief
Employers like to present compensation as "total rewards": salary, bonus, equity, benefits, and perks, summed into one large, reassuring number. The framing is not dishonest, exactly. It is selective in ways that consistently favor the employer.
The valuation problem
Equity in a total rewards statement is usually shown at grant value or target value, not at what it is worth to you today. Unvested equity is counted in full. Equity in a private company is counted at a price you cannot sell at. The number is real in the sense that it is printed; it is not real in the sense that you can spend it.
The benefits inflation
The employer's cost of your health insurance is not your compensation — it is the price of employing anyone in a country where insurance is tied to employment. Counting it in "your" total rewards makes the number bigger without making you richer. The same goes for the ping-pong table, the wellness stipend, and the free lunch, which are cheaper than raises and easier to take away.
Continued
“Total rewards is a number designed to be compared to nothing.”
What to do with this
Compute your own total: cash you will actually receive this year, equity actually vesting, and nothing else. Compare offers on that basis. The staypay calculator does the cash part; the equity audit does the rest. The brochure can keep its number.