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Tech compensation in 2021

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Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#361

Post by LindyTalker »

throwaway2016a wrote: post #90

20 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…

I taught my friend to code in a year and he did one of the intensive bootcamps. First job ever. A healthcare company in NYC is paying him 155 + 20% bonus. You're getting hosed

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#362

Post by Jensson »

zz865 wrote: post #6

> Chris can expect to make $300k at a non-FAANG company, but nearly double that if they’re willing to compromise on that “no-FAANG” stance Is that really a good rule of thumb? FAANG pays double non-FAANG?

Last time I checked a really good rule of thumb is that FAANG pays double the median salary for software engineers, no matter where in the world you check. There are however companies all over that spectrum so it isn't like there is a cliff between FAANG and the rest, but it is true that most developers would massively increase their salaries by joining a FAANG.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#363

Post by lotsofpulp »

Thrymr wrote: post #279
jiggawatts wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the... s%&#? Half a million a year for a developer or architect is bonkers. That's the equivalent of AUD 800K a year. That's more than what the Prime Minister and a cabinet member put together make here! How can that possibly make sense? For that kind of money you can easily hire 4 senior developers here! Any company "hiring local" at those prices isn't exploring their international staffing options properly...

> That's the equivalent of AUD 800K a year. That's more than what the Prime Minister and a cabinet member put together make here! It is also about what the US President ($400k) and a cabinet secretary ($196.7k) put together make in the US. But far, far, less than the CEO of any public company.

The US president’s compensation is far more than $400k per year including all the post employment benefits. Just the $200k+ per year annuity (inflation adjusted to boot) for the rest of their life is worth millions if they live more than ~6 years, and it only takes 4 years to earn it. Due to his young age, Obama easily got a few extra millions per year just in the value of the annuity.

https://www.thoughtco.com/presidential-retirement-benefits-3...

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#364

Post by moosebear847 »

throwaway19170 wrote: post #336

So there are all these people in these threads who are like "I only make $175K/200K/150K, I feel like I'm grossly underpaid when I read these things." I got you all beat. I have 15+ experience. I am a really good coder . I can be very not humble because this is a throwaway, but everyone who has ever worked with me or gone to school with me or worked on open source with me would agree, I am very good at designing and…

I think there are many straightforward answers. Try to get the $500k jobs. If that doesn't work and you don't want to grind LC for 6 months, go for $150-200k jobs like startups. If you are as good as you say you are, you could probably study/talk your way into a job or at least figure out what you need after applying to 100 startups.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#365

Post by x1798DE »

throwaway19170 wrote: post #336

So there are all these people in these threads who are like "I only make $175K/200K/150K, I feel like I'm grossly underpaid when I read these things." I got you all beat. I have 15+ experience. I am a really good coder . I can be very not humble because this is a throwaway, but everyone who has ever worked with me or gone to school with me or worked on open source with me would agree, I am very good at designing and…

I don't know if it's right for everyone, but the way I did it was to practice a bunch of leetcode style questions and send out resumes go for job postings at big companies.

That was for my first tech job. Once I had that one advertised on LinkedIn (and some open source participation, and some talks at conferences - not sure what generated interest), I started getting a steady stream of unsolicited emails from recruiters. Next time I was ready to switch jobs I just responded to the ones from FAANG companies and went back to practicing leetcode.

You can probably also just reach out directly to recruiters at big companies, or ask someone you know who works at a big company to put you in touch with a recruiter or recommend you.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#366

Post by throwaway2016a »

Jensson wrote: post #302
throwaway2016a wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The comment I'm replying to specifically mentions Leet Code (I am assuming that is what LC stood for) which is the only reason I brought it up. Your point is exactly my point, leet code is not relevant to the type of position I'd be looking for. So assuming Levels.fyi is accurate (their numbers are $20k more than salary.com which is more accurate in my opinion): my point was that I am average, right in the middle. Bu…

> Your point is exactly my point, leet code is not relevant to the type of position I'd be looking for. But the jobs you'd get with leetcode would pay twice your current expected liquid compensation at least (assuming 0 stock growth) for your experience level. If you don't want those then fine, but then you can't complain about threads like this either. Google has jobs in Boston, I bet there are many other tech compa…

I'm not complaining, if you read my posts am saying the article is not representative of a majority of software engineers' experience. Using my career as an example. I even explicitly say that in the very comment you are replying to.

Not everyone works for FAANG.

Also, leet code is not relevant because the questions asked at that level are typically not algorithms. I passed the leet code stage in my career 10 years ago. Questions I get asked are typically around architecture, distributed systems, scaling, etc.

So what you are saying is someone who can answer the leet code questions easily (and has been able to for a decade) AND is an expert architect, should get paid less than someone who can only do leet code?

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#367

Post by b9a2cab5 »

sweezyjeezy wrote: post #139
HenryKissinger wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's all of that. European tech companies are smaller than US tech companies, have lower gross revenue per employee, make less profit per employee. Taxes are higher in Europe, which disincentivizes risk taking and ambitious individuals. Labor productivity is also lower in Europe. Finally, Europe still has a culture where software engineers, cloud architects/products/managers/etc. are viewed as code monkeys and the pe…

> Europe also suffers from a brain drain to the US (and Canada to a smaller proportion). Many of Europe's best and brightest software engineers have already emigrated to the US, leaving behind the less productive ones. You need to back this up with something better than anecdotal evidence - FWIW I've worked with plenty of world class American engineers who don't live in the US

You need only look at the makeup of every MBA, MEng, MS, and STEM PhD program. 50% European and 50% Asian, all foreigners (i.e. immigrated on a student visa). If there was no brain drain then you'd expect mostly US permanent residents/citizens.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#368

Post by franciscop »

KronisLV wrote: post #14

As someone who works in an Eastern European country, i also did a writeup on how much i've made over the years and how that figure has changed, while working for a local company: https://blog.kronis.dev/articles/on-finances-and-savings In short, this year i'll probably make around 18k Euros, in total. I guess that just goes to show how different the situation is depending on where you live and where you're employed.

> i probably should mention that these are the net salaries

Definitely, I know in many parts of EU it's common to discuss net (specially when talking about monthly salaries) but in an English article targeted at the international community you'd be way better off sharing the gross, which is the expected way.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#369

Post by saagarjha »

odiroot wrote: post #208
cryptoz wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Taxes are higher in Europe, which disincentivizes risk taking and ambitious individuals. This seems backwards to me. A society with higher taxes typically has better social safety nets, better infrastructure, less corruption, etc. Higher-tax societies incentivize risk-taking, not the other way around, especially for "ambitious individuals". When there is more structure and support around, more people are able to ta…

High taxation creates a perfect environment for corruption.

Some of the countries with the highest tax rates are among the least corrupt.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#370

Post by b9a2cab5 »

goodpoint wrote: post #261
lazide wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only for lower income earners. A great health plan is $1k-1.5k/mo, which is crushing if your savings or excess capital are in the 5 digits or less. If you’re financially independent or wealthy enough to be (independently) doing a startup or taking on a business venture, it’s a rounding error in the books.

Correct. That's why SV startups are billionaire's playgound. And billionaires are much more scarce outside of US (and those who exist have better chances investing in other fields). That's why SV salaries for developers are so crazy.

You can raise capital so easily with any traction (seriously, if you have any credible paying customers at all YC will take you and that unlocks funding from everyone else). The cost of health insurance is negligible compared to the astronomical salaries of software developers.
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