Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why do managers get paid more than individual contributors?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 80 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why do managers get paid more than individual contributors?

#31

Post by im3w1l »

phamilton wrote: post #8

They often don't. But when they do, it's because of leveraged impact. If I'm a 10x engineer, then that's a huge individual contribution. However, if I'm a 2x manager with 12 reports, then my impact is greater than a 10x engineer. That is to say, if I can make my 12 reports twice as productive, then that's a huge benefit to the org. If I'm a 2x director with 4 managers reporting to me, then that 2x compounds through e…

It's hard to imagine a manager making people do 2x as much. But it's not so hard to imagine a manager making people work on something 2x as important.

Re: Ask HN: Why do managers get paid more than individual contributors?

#33

Post by fizixer »

I've never heard of the term 'individual contributor.'

Can anyone clarify?

As I understand teams are built from managerial roles and "worker" or technical or engineering roles. If it has to be a three tier system instead of two, it (typically) consists of a manager, then one or more tech/team lead(s), then engineer(s). I'm not sure which one of these are individual contributors. (or aren't they all?)

Re: Ask HN: Why do managers get paid more than individual contributors?

#34

Post by apatters »

To answer this question accurately you have to look at it from the perspective of the person who has the authority to make the hires (e.g., C-level, VP, people with financial control).

Aside from the multiplier effect of a good manager which is mentioned in a few other comments, a manager is someone to whom the employer can delegate responsibility. This is usually the most valued skill set an employee can possess -- if as the owner/CEO/VP/General Manager you can just take a certain area of the business, give it to that person, and sleep easy at night knowing that it's taken care of, that peace of mind is worth any price because you're now able to focus your energy on other areas of the business.

The same cannot generally be said about any IC (even though in come cases great ICs can have a remarkable impact on the business).

As you go deeper down a corporate hierarchy motivations may become distorted, but fundamentally this is how it works at the top.

Re: Ask HN: Why do managers get paid more than individual contributors?

#35

Post by namank »

b34r wrote: post #27
namank wrote: post #19

Manager jobs are significantly more stressful and harder to train for than individual contributors. And my personal opinion is that good managers are much rarer than individual contributors.

It really depends on how much the manager throws themselves into their work. I’ve had a few really good ones that I felt were actually helpful and the vast majority that just go to meetings and completely fail to isolate their team from chaos.

Yes absolutely. Managing a manager is hard. Objectives and accountability are easy to get muddled because their tasks are all people based. I am still looking for a practical and resource-efficient way to manage.

Re: Ask HN: Why do managers get paid more than individual contributors?

#36

Post by smilesnd »

Because it is the only incentive to make a IC want to change into a manager role. Most of my engineering friends that went from doing interesting things to being manager always reference the need for more money. Specially if they were getting gray hairs or getting their kids ready for college.

Re: Ask HN: Why do managers get paid more than individual contributors?

#37

Post by pkaye »

Most engineering managers I've worked with were engineers with strong technical background who have good people or project management skills. I had managers who wrote or knew every line in the code base. When someone left they could take over on a pinch and cleanup the mess. These days I think it is more common in startups to promote engineers to management too early before they develop these skills.

Re: Ask HN: Why do managers get paid more than individual contributors?

#39

Post by gorbachev »

namank wrote: post #19

Manager jobs are significantly more stressful and harder to train for than individual contributors. And my personal opinion is that good managers are much rarer than individual contributors.

Absolutely.

It's also much more difficult to get better at managing people than getting better at engineering. Although I suppose if you're a really good manager that may not be true.

Re: Ask HN: Why do managers get paid more than individual contributors?

#40

Post by SubiculumCode »

scarejunba wrote: post #28

This doesn't always happen but when it does, assuming economic efficiency and perfect information, there are some good reasons: * Managers' actions take effect across the entire team, and therefore having a 1x manager vs a 1.1x manager on a 10 person team is like if any individual (assuming evenness in the team) goes from 1x to 2x. * It is harder to find someone who can effectively manage human beings than someone wh…

most managers are bad but get paid well.
Post reply on HN