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Alphabet's Median Pay Nears $200k

wsj.com

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Re: Alphabet's Median Pay Nears $200k

#11

Post by mrleiter »

jdavis703 wrote: post #6
mrleiter wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally possible. I am not acquainted with the regulatory statutes regarding who you may or can count as FTE in such a statistic. But sure sounds like a feasible strategy to prop up median pay.

I'm pretty sure most companies would want to make median pay appear as low as possible when making SEC filings. Investors hate high labor costs.

I would agree in regards to SEC filings, but I'm not sure this comes from an SEC filing?

Also, do you have to state median pay in such a filing?

Re: Alphabet's Median Pay Nears $200k

#13

Post by sanderjd »

onion2k wrote: post #4
mrleiter wrote: post #2

Just a quick reminder what median means in this case: You have a finite set of wages/pay - and $197,000 should be in the middle of this set. Meaning that half the wages at Alphabet are below, the other half above this wage. It is a rather robust measure, because it is insensitive to extreme values (like the arithmetic average would be), while also giving you a good overview, e.g. that 50% of all the wages are above $…

Also, as with the Facebook news that their median is $240k ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16955393 ), it could well be the case that Alphabet's lower paid staff are mostly contractors who wouldn't be counted in this metric.

Everyone seems to report either median or average, both of which leave out a lot of interesting information. If people simply reported both values, it would go a long way to painting a more accurate picture.

Re: Alphabet's Median Pay Nears $200k

#14

Post by geodel »

MPSimmons wrote: post #9
bluntfang wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

gosh what the tech industry could accomplish with a union...the excuse I always hear is "but we have it so well! why do we need to organize?!". Organize for the people that clean your office space, organize for marginalized peoples, organize to make the world a better place, not just your industry. Think what would happen if AWS was without site reliability for 72 hours.

The only thing that highly technical workers dislike more than meeting in real life with each other is having someone tell them what they can and can't do. Unions aren't really compatible with the mindset in Tech today, in my experience knowing people. Small movements start, bikeshedding happens, and everything fractures.

Well, theoretically Google employees can Unionize but theoretically Google can also spin out half dozen labs as separate companies and buy technology at exorbitant rates. Meanwhile union employees will get paid union rates which I am thinking won't be too high.

Re: Alphabet's Median Pay Nears $200k

#15

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

kyrra wrote: post #7
onion2k wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, as with the Facebook news that their median is $240k ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16955393 ), it could well be the case that Alphabet's lower paid staff are mostly contractors who wouldn't be counted in this metric.

Amazon's medium pay is $28,446. But they also employ nearly 500,000 people. The linked article also has salaries for other tech companies. https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazons-typical-worker-is-in-a-...

Most of them work for Integrity Staffing not Amazon.

Re: Alphabet's Median Pay Nears $200k

#18

Post by kss238 »

mrleiter wrote: post #11
jdavis703 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure most companies would want to make median pay appear as low as possible when making SEC filings. Investors hate high labor costs.

I would agree in regards to SEC filings, but I'm not sure this comes from an SEC filing? Also, do you have to state median pay in such a filing?

I don't think companies are required to and this statement from the WSj article:

>the fourth-highest pay among the hundreds of companies in the S&P 500 index that have disclosed those figures.

seems to imply that it is not.

Re: Alphabet's Median Pay Nears $200k

#19

Post by Spooky23 »

kyrra wrote: post #7
onion2k wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, as with the Facebook news that their median is $240k ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16955393 ), it could well be the case that Alphabet's lower paid staff are mostly contractors who wouldn't be counted in this metric.

Amazon's medium pay is $28,446. But they also employ nearly 500,000 people. The linked article also has salaries for other tech companies. https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazons-typical-worker-is-in-a-...

Reporting and pushing median pay now is smart for a company like Amazon.

When you have a Democratic Congress, $15/hr minimum wage is coming. Many of the grunts will be getting a big raise, which will increase that median significantly in a few years.

Re: Alphabet's Median Pay Nears $200k

#20

Post by Nokinside »

cylinder wrote: post #3

Seems really low. Imagine if they unionized!

I have always wondered why Americans see their unions as so dysfunctional and harmful. I have never had problems with unions as en employer.

Then I learned that US has completely different union system from Europe.

You guys have so called enterprise-level bargaining with union shops and agency shops where workers must be part of an union or pay the fee for an union. Then union negotiates pay in enterprise-level. I can see how this is extremely harmful and entrepreneurs must fight tooth and nail against unionizing.

Most of the world has so called sector level bargaining. Unionized workers negotiate for all workers in an entire industry. Union representing electricians negotiates with federation representing companies that hire electricians. After they reach a deal that covers enough unionized workers the deal is extended to the whole industry. You essentially negotiate minimum wage per sector plus benefits.

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