10 years ago I was making 145k base salary. This year I'm making 220k base salary. Both as Senior Software Engineer. I don't think they are stagnating at all.
Ask HN: Have tech salaries been stagnant for the past decade?
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Re: Ask HN: Have tech salaries been stagnant for the past decade?
#212Going anon for this I grew up poor, got in trouble with the law at 18 - but was coding since I was 9, now I have been writing software for 20+ years professionally, no degree, and have never been able to clear more than 250k - moved from coding to mgmt but still cant break 250. I looked at changing companies to a FAANG but haven’t been able to dedicate the massive amount of time needed to prep for the algo whiteboard…
If you can't afford an apartment on 250K you need to take a serious look at your spending and figure out what you actually want to prioritize. Sure, you won't be picking up a $3M apartment overlooking Central Park, but toooooons of Brooklyn and Queens should be affordable to you with that level of income. I got a mortgage a few years ago when I was only pulling down $180K and I was approved for up to $1MM loan, most…
I imagine this person has some other expenses they are not disclosing. Or they have a SO that doesn't work or something. Otherwise it makes no sense.
$250k is not rich in NYC - but you can get a house in NYC for $250k....
Re: Ask HN: Have tech salaries been stagnant for the past decade?
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don’t study leetcode. If you want to work at FAANG, get some interviews with them. You may discover that you really didn’t need to spend days studying stuff that’s not relevant to your job. At the very least, you’ll get some interview practice and figure out what you do need to study. Those companies will let you interview again and again after a 6-12 month break. Also, companies like Stripe and Airbnb also pay compe…
If you want to work at FAANG, get some interviews with them. That requires Leetcode, no? Am I missing something?
I dunno where everyone got the idea that Leetcode is required for this stuff. You learn everything you need to pass these interviews in a 101 or 102 level algorithms/data structures class.
Re: Ask HN: Have tech salaries been stagnant for the past decade?
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don’t study leetcode. If you want to work at FAANG, get some interviews with them. You may discover that you really didn’t need to spend days studying stuff that’s not relevant to your job. At the very least, you’ll get some interview practice and figure out what you do need to study. Those companies will let you interview again and again after a 6-12 month break. Also, companies like Stripe and Airbnb also pay compe…
If you want to work at FAANG, get some interviews with them. That requires Leetcode, no? Am I missing something?
If you have a BS in computer science and remember some of your coursework, you’ll pass an interview.
Re: Ask HN: Have tech salaries been stagnant for the past decade?
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
In fact, were seeing the largest increases in pay over the past two years (and i think in real pay too), and they're forecasting that will continue this year as well. This is much more prominent in the lower paying jobs than in professional ones.
> In fact, were seeing the largest increases in pay over the past two years (and i think in real pay too), and they're forecasting that will continue this year as well. Last two years I agree, and fueled by a acceleration of business for tech companies. But continue this year? Who is forecasting that?
The Federal Reserve, among others.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/12/08/wages-202...
Re: Ask HN: Have tech salaries been stagnant for the past decade?
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you jump jobs every 2 years if your shares don't vest for 4?
I have never paid attention to shares or vesting schedules in contracts. I would stay until I had made the improvements I sought out to make and was bored. I would leave with whatever has vested at that point. I do not acknowledge golden handcuffs ever. Leave when you do not enjoy the job anymore, or are not bringing maximal value you know you could elsewhere. Startup stocks are ephemeral lottery tickets unlikely to…
Can you provide any thoughts on what kind of activities and tools you use on a day to day basis? And how your clients measure your success?
Re: Ask HN: Have tech salaries been stagnant for the past decade?
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
Try east europe, pays better and lower taxes. Standard of living is improving and accommodation is way better. You have room for growth as well. At least that’s what i see among software engs in Romania. Net pay is lower but take home is better. Heard poland and bulgaria arent far off. Ukraine was also good before the war.
In Poland you can make close to $100k per year (as a contractor, not employee), and only have like 18% tax rate on this (12% income tax plus social security payments). So you earn like $6-6.5k monthly after taxes, and all your living expenses are maybe $1.5k. You can save the rest towards your apartment/house (and you need $130-200k for that, or 3-5 years of saving).
That's exactly what I'm doing right now except I get around 70-80k eur as a contractor. Take home as a single 20something guy is insane and allows you to buy a decent house for cash in 3-4 years near a major city.
The only thing most people outside don't talk about when it comes to Poland is our insanely terrible and corrupted government, lack of teachers, nurses, doctors, much higher inflation recently, regressing in women's rights, bad air quality in most big cities etc. Public healthcare is in so bad state that you need to go private anyway to get anything done. Also half of our society is still really religious, close minded and anti-west, it's slowly changing but Poland is still pretty hard place to live, f.e. for LGBT people. All those things are stopping me from actually commiting to staying in Poland, besides having my family I hate almost everything about this country.
Re: Ask HN: Have tech salaries been stagnant for the past decade?
#21810 years ago I was making 145k base salary. This year I'm making 220k base salary. Both as Senior Software Engineer. I don't think they are stagnating at all.
Could you provide more details so I can add to my anecdata? :)
Is that on the same company? Different company but the same role? Or just job hopping here and there?
Re: Ask HN: Have tech salaries been stagnant for the past decade?
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
A little mentioned dynamic is that tech salaries can't be too much out-of-sync with non-tech salaries, because overpriced housing bought up by SWEs making 300K+ eventually leads to non-SWEs demanding wage increases to keep up with rent payments and/or remain able to save for a downpayment on newly priced homes. In turn, the lower disposable income from workers being squeezed by housing costs is lowering growth and te…
Ah so you still believe in the trickle down economy. The problem with that is that anyone making 500k is not going to be able to spend fast enough to keep people around them equally wealthy and it gets worse the higher you go - you physically can’t spend 10M+ on groceries and haircuts near you so the higher proportion goes to financial instruments and assets which does not trickle down to neighbours
They're not talking about trickle down. They're talking about market pricing (COL) affecting pay. This is clearly evident looking at non-tech jobs in someplace like SV vs Philly.
Re: Ask HN: Have tech salaries been stagnant for the past decade?
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you want to work at FAANG, get some interviews with them. That requires Leetcode, no? Am I missing something?
I dunno where everyone got the idea that Leetcode is required for this stuff. You learn everything you need to pass these interviews in a 101 or 102 level algorithms/data structures class.
This is weird because I work at FAANG and one of the things that everyone acknowledges is that we all studied to get past the damn interview loop. Yes it is covered in classes, there is nothing new but at the very least you need to brush up.