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

Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

geekwire.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 462 posts

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#131

Post by radicaldreamer »

ShockedUnicorn wrote: post #104
_dain_ wrote: post #31

US tech salary discussions always throw around incomprehensibly large numbers and complain that they are "small"

My first tech job I made ~8k$ a year, due to being under 25 years old. My second job as a programmer was 33k$ a year, about 40% more than a cleaner in my city. It just feels ridiculous that US salary can be 10x this, when costs of living are very similar. Apartments in my city in Sweden is about 200k$, houses 500k$.

It's a large combination of factors that affect this... first off, houses and apartments in top tier tech cities in the US are far more than 200k/500k, the labor market is more competitive, and in some states (like California), non-compete clauses are not enforceable, so switching jobs is relatively low effort/cost for the employee.

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#132

Post by goodpoint »

_dain_ wrote: post #43
rootusrootus wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure a non-trivial amount of that is talk more than average reality. Which isn't to say that there aren't a bunch of people making a half million or more in total comp at a FAANG company, but there are almost certainly a whole lot more quiet people making 100-200K who aren't going to brag on HN about it.

100-200k is incomprehensibly large for me

It is indeed incomprehensibly large compared both the rest of the world and compared to the cost of most necessities (food, clothing, electricity, whatever electronic gadget...)

Yet, everything changes if you consider housing, medical expenses, childcare, pensions: ta-dah the ratio between income and expenses is worse than in Europe.

Then count your real working hours over a 30-years period and redo the math.

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#134

Post by dehrmann »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #2

We had an office near an Amazon office. I interviewed a lot of people trying to leave Amazon. I don’t ask candidate’s compensation, but a lot of them volunteered it anyway. I was always surprised at how effectively low their comp was in the first few years due to the vesting schedule. The internet is adamant that everyone with FAANG jobs is rolling in TC, but there are a lot of people out there who are getting into F…

Someone since deleted this comment:

> While the stock vests in year 3 and 4, you get an equivalent amount of cash in year 1 and 2. It’s not uncommon for that cash to be 6 figures, almost doubling your salary for the first two years. I wouldn’t call that a pittance.

This was my experience ~8 years ago. There was an initial signing bonus, a retention bonus after a year, and then the RSUs start kicking in. The bonuses were prorated monthly. It was a little different than what other companies do, but it didn't feel unfair.

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#135

Post by Kranar »

CarlosEscobedo wrote: post #71
_dain_ wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100-200k is incomprehensibly large for me

money is one thing, you also need to take into consideration how much work US tech expects, how little vacation is provided, and how things like Health Care isn't universal.

The only people who say this are those who don't work at the major tech companies. I worked at Google and Microsoft and know plenty of people who work at Facebook, AirBnb, Uber. Neither myself or anyone I know is overworked, or is unable to take plenty of time off for vacation, or doesn't have access to absolutely amazing health care plans.

It's not Goldman Sachs we're talking about here.

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#138

Post by AlexCoventry »

caaqil wrote: post #105
AlexCoventry wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is The Forest just a play on the name Amazon, or is it a reference to some content about Amazon the company? It's hard to google for.

> Is The Forest just a play on the name Amazon Yes.

Thanks.

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#139

Post by aaronblohowiak »

ShockedUnicorn wrote: post #104
_dain_ wrote: post #31

US tech salary discussions always throw around incomprehensibly large numbers and complain that they are "small"

My first tech job I made ~8k$ a year, due to being under 25 years old. My second job as a programmer was 33k$ a year, about 40% more than a cleaner in my city. It just feels ridiculous that US salary can be 10x this, when costs of living are very similar. Apartments in my city in Sweden is about 200k$, houses 500k$.

Are Swedish salaries given pre-tax or post-tax? Houses with good schools near high paying tech jobs are usually greater than $2M, with taxes that will run 25k/year...

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#140

Post by argc »

karaterobot wrote: post #95
f6v wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I briefly browsed Zillow in Seattle. It looks like a good 2-3 bd house is 700k+. And of course you need a car since public transport isn’t a thing there. Sending children to a good colleage is probably 50k+ a year just in tuition. I get a feeling money is different there.

Doesn't Amazon provide a shuttle service for employees? Microsoft does, so does Google I believe. There's also a reasonably good bus system here, and they're working on light rail.

Yeah, shuttle service is pretty good, buses are pretty good, and light rail is getting better.
Post reply on HN