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Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines – salary, hiring bonus, stock awards by level

businessinsider.com

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Re: Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines – salary, hiring bonus, stock awards by level

#21

Post by pgeorgi »

m0rissette wrote: post #11
dom96 wrote: post #6

At this point is there any disadvantage to legislating that all companies should share a transparency report where they list their levels + avg, min, max, median salaries for each level?

Wouldn’t all the companies then just conspire to pay everyone lower wages?

There are already companies collecting such information and making them available for their customers (who supposedly provide some collated data set to them in exchange). That's what all the "paying top of market rate" talk in various companies is based on.

So: the potential for collusion already exists, but unless regular folks can get access to the analysts' data sets as well, it's a very one-sided deal.

Re: Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines – salary, hiring bonus, stock awards by level

#22

Post by lesuorac »

RicDan wrote: post #17
lesuorac wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would cause wage growth leading to a lower percent (but an increase) increase in other prices (housing, etc).

So things that are happening regardless?

Sure but it would be worse.

You see this all the time when the minimum wage is increased by say 10% then there is a general inflation of 1%. General inflation lags wage increases although at a reduced effect.

Re: Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines – salary, hiring bonus, stock awards by level

#23

Post by firesteelrain »

tgv wrote: post #15
eganist wrote: post #5

From the article: --- Level 70: Base pay: $231,700 to $361,500 On-hire stock awards: $310,000 default to $1.2 million with approval Annual stock award range: $0 to $945,000 Level 69: Base pay: $202,400 to $316,000 On-hire stock awards: $235,000 default to $1.1 million with approval Annual stock award range: $0 to $750,000 Level 68: Base pay: $186,200 to $291,000 On-hire stock awards: $177,000 default to $1 million wi…

I'll add this from the article: Microsoft uses a system of levels to denote seniority. Higher levels come with higher offers, according to the guidelines. Levels also vary by field and location, but generally, "senior" starts at level 63, "principal" starts at level 65, and "partner" starts at level 68, according to insiders. Not all types of roles go up to level 70, but in engineering, an employee at this level woul…

Other than the really granular levels, this is typical for a large corporation.

Re: Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines – salary, hiring bonus, stock awards by level

#24

Post by az226 »

hardware2win wrote: post #10

>On-hire stock awards: $310,000 default to $1.2 million with approval >Annual stock award range: $0 to $945,000 Wow. Those numbers are huge

There are only a few hundred people at this level. Maybe like 200-300 people.

Re: Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines – salary, hiring bonus, stock awards by level

#25

Post by lozenge »

pgeorgi wrote: post #21
m0rissette wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn’t all the companies then just conspire to pay everyone lower wages?

There are already companies collecting such information and making them available for their customers (who supposedly provide some collated data set to them in exchange). That's what all the "paying top of market rate" talk in various companies is based on. So: the potential for collusion already exists, but unless regular folks can get access to the analysts' data sets as well, it's a very one-sided deal.

> paying top of market rate

I thought that was just marketing puffery...

Re: Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines – salary, hiring bonus, stock awards by level

#26

Post by PretzelPirate »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #13
steveBK123 wrote: post #9

Would be interesting to see people rough idea of YOE to Level mapping for MSFT. Everything from Level 50 through 60 looks pretty junior, like grad hires and possibly outside HCOL areas. Surprised there is so much granularity. I do also find the base to stock ratios interesting. I guess base pay caps out in FAANG the same way it does in fintech / Wall Street tech. $360k base is a lot of money obviously, but its intere…

Level 59 is entry-level for an SE (e.g. an undergraduate hire), Level 58 is for Interns. People at Level 59 are expected to reach Level 60 within 2 years or they'll basically get managed-out, but once you get past Level 61 people generally take things more slowly. In West Coast circles (Blind.app, et al) Microsoft's reputation is that it's still "the country club" where you go if you want a stable career without too…

> are expected to reach Level 60 within 2 years or they're automatically out-the-door

That part isn't true. Some people stay at L59 for much longer and there isn't any "automatic out", at least in the US.

Re: Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines – salary, hiring bonus, stock awards by level

#28

Post by xvector »

dom96 wrote: post #6

At this point is there any disadvantage to legislating that all companies should share a transparency report where they list their levels + avg, min, max, median salaries for each level?

Every company I've talked to with "transparent" comp has offered absolutely terrible comp, even for their highest possible offer.

In reality "transparent comp" becomes an excuse for companies to not negotiate.

Re: Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines – salary, hiring bonus, stock awards by level

#29

Post by sokoloff »

dom96 wrote: post #6

At this point is there any disadvantage to legislating that all companies should share a transparency report where they list their levels + avg, min, max, median salaries for each level?

I’m opposed to disclosure laws that would be prone to expose the income of individual people.

If Alice is the only SWEPR5 at a company, that proposal publishes her salary. If Bob is clearly the best SWEPR4, Cathy the middle, and Dave just barely got promoted to that level, their salaries are also individually published.

I don’t object to good faith ranges being required in job listings, but I oppose anything that would tend to publish an individual’s data that they should be able to keep private.

(That’s before even getting to the fact that salary is nowhere near the full compensation picture.)

Re: Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines – salary, hiring bonus, stock awards by level

#30

Post by xvector »

hardware2win wrote: post #10

>On-hire stock awards: $310,000 default to $1.2 million with approval >Annual stock award range: $0 to $945,000 Wow. Those numbers are huge

Context is key - for that level, they're pretty bad numbers compared to the rest of big tech. Equivalent at Meta/Google/Amazon would be making vastly more. Microsoft usually punches well below its weight for compensation.
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