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We're Levels.fyi, the most accurate resource for tech salaries, ask us anything

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Re: We're Levels.fyi, the most accurate resource for tech salaries, ask us anything

#31

Post by cyrux004 »

whymauri wrote: post #27
zests wrote: post #25

It feels like there are two classes of engineers in the US. One class of engineers makes 60k-120k and the other makes 150k-500k. Is this just a really well kept secret? I don't really see many engineers trying to migrate from the first class to the second class. I'd expect most software engineers would jump through hoops at the prospect of doubling their salary.

From the people I've talked to, they enjoy the WLB and location of their job enough to not hop.

Correct, this what I understand. Before the remote workplace, they were just too comfy in their location to think about locating to the limited tech cities where these salaries are being paid

Re: We're Levels.fyi, the most accurate resource for tech salaries, ask us anything

#32

Post by phreeza »

tester756 wrote: post #9
Zaheer wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes many of the top tech companies are now hiring across Europe (and in fact have been). Ex. https://eng.lyft.com/introducing-lyft-engineering-kyiv-2884d... Salaries are definitely adjusted. To get a feel for salaries: - https://www.levels.fyi/Salaries/Software-Engineer/Netherland... - https://www.levels.fyi/Salaries/Software-Engineer/Ukraine/ - https://www.levels.fyi/Salaries/Software-Engineer/London/

But isn't it like that e.g EU branch of $FAANG company does less cool stuff? e.g Google EU does CRUDs and maintains GCP meanwhile cool stuff is being done in MV?

No, lots of interesting Google teams in EMEA, for example Lens https://careers.google.com/jobs/results/90450385816167110-pr...

Re: We're Levels.fyi, the most accurate resource for tech salaries, ask us anything

#33

Post by paxys »

zuhayeer wrote: post #21
uyt wrote: post #15

How do you account for stock/option appreciation? Which number is displayed on the site? There might be a huge difference between a person reporting their total compensation from their offer letter (according to the fair market value at the time) vs what it is after a few years of appreciation.

We think of data points on our platform as snapshots of salaries in time. Currently, we ask for the last reported year of compensation which would include stock appreciation. You can distinguish this on our compensation page by filtering the "Years at Company" field: https://levels.fyi/comp.html?showFilters When the Years at Company field is 0 it is a new offer.

The problem is that right on your front page I see that the estimated annual comp for a G6 engineer at Google is expected to be $226,673 salary/$212,061 stock/$50,939 bonus. The stock portion, however, includes both brand new offers and those which have benefited from many years of appreciation, making the number effectively meaningless.

Even after digging in, there is no way on the site to restrict it to only new offers.

I personally have not reported my salary on levels.fyi or any similar website because my shares were granted pre-IPO and I don't want to further distort expectations for what an average software engineer is expected to make.

Re: We're Levels.fyi, the most accurate resource for tech salaries, ask us anything

#36

Post by b20000 »

tester756 wrote: post #3

Is it possible to work for SV $TOP directly from e.g Eastern Europe? If yes, then how the salary would be reduced due to location adjustments?

you can work for FAANG in europe but compensation will be much lower. that is why people move to the US. of course costs in the US are way higher.

Re: We're Levels.fyi, the most accurate resource for tech salaries, ask us anything

#37

Post by comprev »

BelenusMordred wrote: post #13

This is really confusing with the link being the actual "ask us anything" and people asking questions here that others are answering, yet OP hasn't written a single response.

The AMA was on the linked site not here on HN. I agree it's confusing

Re: We're Levels.fyi, the most accurate resource for tech salaries, ask us anything

#38

Post by a1pulley »

baby_wipe wrote: post #7

Why is stock such a big portion of compensation for the big tech companies?

This might be a cynical take, but in addition the things you typically hear, like improving cashflow and aligning incentives, I think it makes it easier to manage employees out. I.e., if you want to replace someone who it would otherwise be hard to fire, you could start refresher grants late or make them small enough that come year 5, it makes more financial sense for the employee to leave willingly.

Some explanation, in case people aren't familiar with "big N" or FAANG comp schemes: when you get an offer, you're given a "base salary"—somewhere between 100 and 250k unless you're quite senior—a four year RSU (stock) grant with some vesting conditions, and info on typical year-end cash bonuses and RSU refreshers. The annualized four year grant is usually somewhere between 50% and 200% of your base salary, depending on seniority. See levels.fyi for details. A "refresher" is a four year grant given in each of years n, n + 1, n + 2, ..., where n is typically year 2. The refresher is usually a quarter of your initial grant, but companies often given themselves a lot of legroom to adjust this number depending on market conditions, employee performance, etc.

Re: We're Levels.fyi, the most accurate resource for tech salaries, ask us anything

#39

Post by thatguy0900 »

cyrux004 wrote: post #31
whymauri wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the people I've talked to, they enjoy the WLB and location of their job enough to not hop.

Correct, this what I understand. Before the remote workplace, they were just too comfy in their location to think about locating to the limited tech cities where these salaries are being paid

I mean, I'll be honest, I make around 50k in a non tech job in a low cost of living area.i really don't want for anything. Maybe I just don't like really expensive toys, but anything I want, I buy. I go on nice vacations in country, plenty of wilderness around me. I don't have to look at receipts or bills before paying them and I never think about my bank account. I'm really totally unsure what making 500k instead would do for me, besides retiring super early.

Re: We're Levels.fyi, the most accurate resource for tech salaries, ask us anything

#40

Post by prezjordan »

zests wrote: post #25

It feels like there are two classes of engineers in the US. One class of engineers makes 60k-120k and the other makes 150k-500k. Is this just a really well kept secret? I don't really see many engineers trying to migrate from the first class to the second class. I'd expect most software engineers would jump through hoops at the prospect of doubling their salary.

I worked at a non-profit with a lot of happy ex-FAANG people that wanted to do some social good for a while. It definitely happens!

EDIT: (I just answered the inverse of your question didn't I?) People definitely grind leetcode for a FAANG gig after working elsewhere.

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