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Tech Salaries in 2022: Why the Six Figure Pay Makes Techies Feel Underpaid

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Re: Tech Salaries in 2022: Why the Six Figure Pay Makes Techies Feel Underpaid

#31

Post by t-3 »

baal80spam wrote: post #17
tjansen wrote: post #10

It also makes us Europeans feel underpaid :) I have 20 years of experience and don't even make six figures. $350000 base pay sounds like a different world.

Exactly my thought when I read the title. I know the cost of living is higher in US but I'm always baffled by how much tech workers make on the other side of the pond. To me it sounds like a dream.

To be fair, 200k+ isn't the norm outside of the FAANGs, but 100k for an experienced dev is achievable almost anywhere in the US, including places with very low cost of living. Many of the southern states have very low/no income tax, extremely cheap land/housing/food, and great weather.

Re: Tech Salaries in 2022: Why the Six Figure Pay Makes Techies Feel Underpaid

#32

Post by newobj »

michaelchisari wrote: post #2

A solid article, but it should have commented on single family home prices. If you use the 3x salary rule, a $120k a year techie couldn't afford the median home price in America ($374k). A software engineer in San Francisco would have to make $526k a year in cold hard cash to reasonably afford the median single family home ($1.58 million). Talking about six figure salaries as if they are unquestionably upper-middle c…

3x? That's crazy. I bought a $375k house on an $85k tech salary 20 years ago.

Re: Tech Salaries in 2022: Why the Six Figure Pay Makes Techies Feel Underpaid

#33

Post by brabel »

silisili wrote: post #13
indecisive_user wrote: post #5

>the average tech worker’s salary [will] reach $104,566 in the U.S. — a 6.9% increase since 2020, the report found. But inflation is over 11% since 2020. This isn't an increase. The average tech worker is making less than they were 2 years ago according to the Dice salary report. Why do tech workers feel underpaid? Many companies posted record growth and profits over the pandemic, but still give out paltry 3-5% raise…

I don't feel underpaid, but I definitely feel like I've lost tons of ground in the last 2 years. The floor has risen big time. Entry level jobs are paying up to 60k these days, whereas they were closer to 30k a few years back. Good for them, seriously. But watching the floor rise closer to you is never a great feeling.

That's a strange concern you seem to have... why does it bother you that fellow programmers are getting salaries close to yours? Do you think it would feel better if your salary could be 5x higher than theirs? Why? That will not actually affect you negatively in any way! Unless you're being actually underpaid compared to your peers with the same experience and skills, there's only good things about people with lower skills getting higher pay.

Re: Tech Salaries in 2022: Why the Six Figure Pay Makes Techies Feel Underpaid

#34

Post by harry8 »

missedthecue wrote: post #26
indecisive_user wrote: post #5

>the average tech worker’s salary [will] reach $104,566 in the U.S. — a 6.9% increase since 2020, the report found. But inflation is over 11% since 2020. This isn't an increase. The average tech worker is making less than they were 2 years ago according to the Dice salary report. Why do tech workers feel underpaid? Many companies posted record growth and profits over the pandemic, but still give out paltry 3-5% raise…

Annual raises doesn't have anything to do with being over or underpaid, strictly speaking. To clearly illustrate my point here, if fortune 500 CEO pay is up less than 11% on avg since 2020, I don't think that's an argument they're underpaid.

> if fortune 500 CEO pay is up less than 11% on avg since 2020

It's up a /lot/ more than that! And what do you know, they're also not underpaid. The former will predict the latter pretty damn well, I think you'll find. So yes, strictly speaking, annual raises and having the market power to command meaningful ones do actually have everything to do with being over/under paid.

Re: Tech Salaries in 2022: Why the Six Figure Pay Makes Techies Feel Underpaid

#35

Post by rocketbop »

indecisive_user wrote: post #5

>the average tech worker’s salary [will] reach $104,566 in the U.S. — a 6.9% increase since 2020, the report found. But inflation is over 11% since 2020. This isn't an increase. The average tech worker is making less than they were 2 years ago according to the Dice salary report. Why do tech workers feel underpaid? Many companies posted record growth and profits over the pandemic, but still give out paltry 3-5% raise…

> ...a 6.9% increase since 2020, the report found. But inflation is over 11% since 2020. This isn't an increase. The

I have heard this point made a couple of times recently. Is there any reason why these two values should be the same? It is a point of concern for those on very low incomes who spent all their income and are not able to save anythiny, but if you are on a six figure income and only a portion of that income is spent on groceries and housing then I assume you can still end up wealthier than the previous year.

Re: Tech Salaries in 2022: Why the Six Figure Pay Makes Techies Feel Underpaid

#36

Post by Ekaros »

Fezzik wrote: post #7

If true, noting that just shy of 50% of tech folk feel underpaid seems surprising… for how low the number is, not how high. Everyone I know (judges, attorneys, law clerks, doctors, administrative staff, teachers, baristas…) thinks that they are underpaid. The fact that less-than-half of tech workers feel underpaid seems like a great sign to me for the industry. I’d also be curious who the survey data was gathered fro…

50% sounds reasonable number. And probably good amount of that is actually underpaid. And I don't mean in way of people here talk, but in real way of earning sub middle class wage.

Re: Tech Salaries in 2022: Why the Six Figure Pay Makes Techies Feel Underpaid

#37

Post by andai »

ryannevius wrote: post #15
tjansen wrote: post #10

It also makes us Europeans feel underpaid :) I have 20 years of experience and don't even make six figures. $350000 base pay sounds like a different world.

Most tech workers in Europe _are_ underpaid (sample size: 1, me, an American living and working in the tech industry in Europe).

Do you mean that you are working for European companies and get paid more than your European colleagues?

Re: Tech Salaries in 2022: Why the Six Figure Pay Makes Techies Feel Underpaid

#38

Post by missedthecue »

harry8 wrote: post #34
missedthecue wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Annual raises doesn't have anything to do with being over or underpaid, strictly speaking. To clearly illustrate my point here, if fortune 500 CEO pay is up less than 11% on avg since 2020, I don't think that's an argument they're underpaid.

> if fortune 500 CEO pay is up less than 11% on avg since 2020 It's up a /lot/ more than that! And what do you know, they're also not underpaid. The former will predict the latter pretty damn well, I think you'll find. So yes, strictly speaking, annual raises and having the market power to command meaningful ones do actually have everything to do with being over/under paid.

I'm not making a statement of fact about CEO pay since 2020. I'm saying that whether or not it's up by more or less than inflation since then has nothing to do with them being fundamentally overpaid.

Apply this to dev pay as well. Just because you're a few % off since 2020 after inflation does not mean $300k salaries are overpaid or that they're appropriate. They're two unconnected data points.

Re: Tech Salaries in 2022: Why the Six Figure Pay Makes Techies Feel Underpaid

#39

Post by b20000 »

silisili wrote: post #13
indecisive_user wrote: post #5

>the average tech worker’s salary [will] reach $104,566 in the U.S. — a 6.9% increase since 2020, the report found. But inflation is over 11% since 2020. This isn't an increase. The average tech worker is making less than they were 2 years ago according to the Dice salary report. Why do tech workers feel underpaid? Many companies posted record growth and profits over the pandemic, but still give out paltry 3-5% raise…

I don't feel underpaid, but I definitely feel like I've lost tons of ground in the last 2 years. The floor has risen big time. Entry level jobs are paying up to 60k these days, whereas they were closer to 30k a few years back. Good for them, seriously. But watching the floor rise closer to you is never a great feeling.

entry level jobs in software engineering at FAANG were over 120K about 10 years ago and that was already underpaid. California is a really expensive place to live long term and people generally do not do the math and do not account for child care, retirement, sickness or health issues or whatever. then there is the cost of (ongoing) education and issues of mental health in this industry.

And those who think remote will be long term to their advantage are wrong. All that will happen is that these companies will find a way to pay you less. The solution is to organize.

for those who will reply that people are making less in CA and also need to survive… i was in a black uber recently and the driver told me he was averaging 20K per month. not bad for driving a car with zero education or leetcode requirements.

Re: Tech Salaries in 2022: Why the Six Figure Pay Makes Techies Feel Underpaid

#40

Post by DogLover_ »

welder wrote: post #27
tjansen wrote: post #10

It also makes us Europeans feel underpaid :) I have 20 years of experience and don't even make six figures. $350000 base pay sounds like a different world.

Get a remote job where they pay California rates no matter your location [1] [2] [3]. It's the new way for companies to stand out and attract global top talent. [1] https://handbook.sourcegraph.com/benefits-pay-perks/pay-expe... [2] https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/28/airbnb-commits-to-fully-re... [3] Filter by "Location independent pay" https://himalayas.app/companies

Those are hard to find. If you filter in your 3.link it goes from 1924 -> 38. That is 2% of the jobs.
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