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

Facebook Median Pay now $240k

sfgate.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 83 posts

Re: Facebook Median Pay now $240k

#31

Post by dx034 »

camillomiller wrote: post #29
dx034 wrote: post #11

That is only possible because of outsourcing. If you only employ the highest paid earners and use contractors for all support staff, you artificially inflate your median salary. I'd bet that FB has much lower salaries if you count anyone working full time for Facebook.

All the "Facebook" content screeners in Berlin, Germany, are actually employees of a contractor (Arvato-Bertelsmann) who is mostly hiring them through job agencies. They're in charge of deciding what has to be banned according to Facebook Community Guidelines. They get to see gore, suicide videos, racial slurs etc. all the time, with no proper psychological training. They earn minimum wage (around 10$ per hour) and t…

Thanks for the example. I'd be surprised if content screeners are employed with Facebook anywhere in the world. Most don't make that job for a long time and they probably want to avoid being sued for compensation, I could imagine viewing those videos/images without proper training will lead to long-term psychological issues for many. It's easy if FB can just hire a subcontractor that files for bankruptcy once claims come in.

Re: Facebook Median Pay now $240k

#32

Post by dx034 »

hliyan wrote: post #6

I've been thinking a lot about the merits of the (highest income / median income) ratio in creating a society that is a little more resistant to eventual inequality. Rather than setting absolute tax brackets, what if we define tax brackets by this ratio? That way, it will be in the interest of the highest income earners to raise the median income.

That sounds interesting but would probably be a paradise for tax lawyers. You just create a network of companies, one for each income band. That way, an employee never makes more than the average. Of course only large corperations can afford that so that smaller companies will have a harder time hiring talent.

Re: Facebook Median Pay now $240k

#33

Post by icebraining »

dx034 wrote: post #30
icebraining wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the industry as a whole doesn't have these margins or salaries; only the top dogs do.

Pre-2008 not all banks were hugely profitable. Some investment banks were and some smaller companies. The tech sector isn't that dissimilar. Salaries in SV show that not only Google and Facebook are willing to pay $200k+ for engineers, most of the industry will (and usually can). As tech can't print money, these salaries must come from somewhere. And at some point those sources won't be able or willing to provide it.…

Salaries in SV show that (...) most of the industry will (and usually can).

Yeah, that's what I doubt. SV is not the tech industry as a whole. The average salary for a software developer in the US is less than half than that, and if we removed those top outliers, it'll be even less. So I'm skeptical that this is out of the ordinary; doesn't seem that different from other well-paid white-collar professions like lawyers.

Re: Facebook Median Pay now $240k

#36

Post by gambiting »

macca321 wrote: post #34

Is this the same in the UK?

I know a guy working in their London office as a programmer and he makes £60k/year. So no, probably not.

Edit: in UK in general you won't be seeing £150k+ salaries as a programmer no matter who you work for, the only way to get there is contracting. Top paying salaried positions for really senior staff in London at financial companies top out at around £120-130k.

Re: Facebook Median Pay now $240k

#40

Post by fergie »

dx034 wrote: post #32
hliyan wrote: post #6

I've been thinking a lot about the merits of the (highest income / median income) ratio in creating a society that is a little more resistant to eventual inequality. Rather than setting absolute tax brackets, what if we define tax brackets by this ratio? That way, it will be in the interest of the highest income earners to raise the median income.

That sounds interesting but would probably be a paradise for tax lawyers. You just create a network of companies, one for each income band. That way, an employee never makes more than the average. Of course only large corperations can afford that so that smaller companies will have a harder time hiring talent.

In most jurisdictions a limit a limited company has to have a board and a CEO. You can outsource middle management- this is what McKinsey, Bain, BSG etc essentially do, but you can't legally outsource the guys at the very top.
Post reply on HN