These articles always undershoot the top end comp. I’m staff+ with ~15 years exp at a FANG like big tech company. I currently make low seven figures. I don’t think I’m unique among my peer group. When you add in refreshers and stock appreciation it gets even higher. Currently remote.
Tech compensation in 2021
191–200 of 631 posts
Re: Tech compensation in 2021
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably but not necessarily. Don't aspire to be most software engineers if you don't want to get paid like most software engineers haha. I'll add a data point. I live in a 90 COL index city(I don't live in a 90 area though) and will clear >300k this year total cash comp at a non-FAANG company working remote. Earlier this year I had a 200k base salary offer for a staff full stack eng role at a startup(that just raise…
How much experience do you have and what sort of work do you do?
I generate value by solving business and user problems.
11 years of experience in roles where I applied software engineering to problems.
Re: Tech compensation in 2021
#193Are a lot of these 300k-500k TC positions putting in 40 hour work weeks or more?
I think that's worth bringing up because it's a huge factor at the end of the day. For example, getting 400k TC but you routinely put in 60-80 hours a week is much different than 40 hours a week.
Personally I would much prefer working 30-40 hours a week for X vs 60-80 hours a week for X * 2. The amount of taxes you pay in the X * 2 range are so massive you end up not getting anywhere near a true 2x amount in your bank account but you put in a true 2x amount of hours. Working 70 hours a week as a typical employee role isn't sustainable in my opinion.
Re: Tech compensation in 2021
#194These compensation amounts reflect what I am seeing in the market. Whenever I see these amounts, like many others, I am somewhat amazed, but then I stop, look at my own history and reflect on the environment that supports paying a Staff engineer $300k a year. Here is my story, which may or may not shed some light on working in high tech in Silicon Valley. I was part of a couple of successful startups in Portland, OR…
SV is what happens when you take typical American suburban hell, and then throw literally trillions of dollars on top without changing anything. Yeah, you can afford a Model S. But you're still sitting in traffic on 101 for hours every day. I don't understand how anyone lives there. It's boring as hell. The weather is "nice" but everything is so brown. The only people left are tech people, like you said.
Re: Tech compensation in 2021
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
>every time I see an article like this, I think I am doing something "very wrong" there's a comment like this in every single thread like this. and the recommendation is always the same: grind LC for however long you need in order to be comfortable solving hard problems cleanly in 35-45 minutes and then collect your pay bump. the fact that the 1. data 2. complaint 3. recommendation crop up with 100% perfect regularit…
It was data. The "I must be doing something wrong" was tongue in cheek. The specific data point was that I am not seeing any salaries anywhere near that. And Salary.com actually backs me up. Just the fact "grind Leet Code" is a recommendation to someone who's most recent job title was CTO and has written two books may be a sign these interviews are broken. But point taken, I'm sure if I studied specifically for inter…
> My point was actually that the article and ones like this seem well research but don't match the reality
Isn't it more that they match the reality, but the reality only for a relatively small section of a bimodal (or more) distribution?
Re: Tech compensation in 2021
#196Re: Tech compensation in 2021
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is very difficult to run into ruinous tax problems with publicly traded companies, but it's possible. There's a delay between the vest date and when you can actually sell your shares. Normally this is just a few days, but if something dire happens your stock can still tank in this window. If $100k of RSUs vest and then drop to $0 in value before you can sell, you have $100k of income to pay taxes on, and can only…
Yikes this sounds like a terrible deal for an employee. How long as these expiry dates? So if I get options in a company at a high valuation and pay taxes on the fair market value at that time and the valuation dips by the time I am able to exercise them, I have effectively lost money? Sorry, just trying to figure this out.
You don't ever pay taxes until you exercise options. Options cost you nothing as long as they remain vested options.
Re: Tech compensation in 2021
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
I see these mind boggling sums in the Valley, $300.000, $600.000, can you please translate: how much does that net you per month, after taxes, reasonable healthcare and rent, ideally no further than 1 hour commute and free of black mold?
I'm in Seattle so the situation is a bit better than the valley. But here's a breakdown: L6 at Amazon, single, no kids: ~$400K TC $33,333 per month gross About $100K in federal tax, no state income tax in WA. $8333 per month Healthcare: $34 a month for an HSA plan. $3,650 over the course of the year goes into the HSA, including the employer portion. That ends up being about $205 out of my pocket. This is a bit compli…
Another data point.
My salary is just above $200k. After 6% contribution to retirement (max my employer will match), and $25k a year set aside for employee stock purchase program (max I can set aside - our ESPP is really good), I get just under $10k a month in direct deposit.
My rent is $3k a month. My discretionary spending is also around $3k a month. So I save $4k a month (in cash).
I also get around $350k in stock compensation. A bunch get sold off to cover taxes, but I don't sell anymore, as I believe in the company, and it has done well in the last 2 years.
Altogether, I save above $250,000 a year - in vested stock, and cash.
Re: Tech compensation in 2021
#19920 years experience, two books under my belt, and lead architect (with a CTO title) on several good sized projects and most I have ever gotten in $175k... every time I see an article like this, I think I am doing something "very wrong" I live about 40 miles outside of Boston. Edit: Looking at levels.fyi for Boston that actually puts me above the median[1]. Why the heck is Boston so low compared to other markets? Edit…
It seems like a lot of HN readers are continually playing the "maximize salary" game and use like articles like this one to figure out how well they're doing. If you want to play that game, then good luck, have fun. I understand the desire.
But it's not for everyone. Are you able to live comfortably on $175k per year? Do you enjoy what you do and the people that you work with? If so, I don't think there should be any shame in staying where you are. Don't feel like you have to chase every last dollar.
Re: Tech compensation in 2021
#200Are a lot of these 300k-500k TC positions putting in 40 hour work weeks or more? I think that's worth bringing up because it's a huge factor at the end of the day. For example, getting 400k TC but you routinely put in 60-80 hours a week is much different than 40 hours a week. Personally I would much prefer working 30-40 hours a week for X vs 60-80 hours a week for X * 2. The amount of taxes you pay in the X * 2 range…
I think plenty of these people are lying on the internet and um, rounding up a little.