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Tech compensation in 2021

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Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#531

Post by louis___ »

franciscop wrote: post #359
eminence32 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Everything else being the same, it's better to make 300k than 175k/year. And not everything is the same, normally in those better paid jobs you have better Engineers, a lot of challenging problems, many nice perks, etc. What you don't normally have is flexibility to negotiate special conditions e.g. 4day work week. Also you don't get highly ethical companies, just average ones at that (and it might actually be better…

But everything else is _never_ the same. Once you're paid more, you move into a bigger house, have more needs, and without knowing it you're just as tight on money as you were before.

But then you just have more stress at work, and you just can't quit that easily bc there arent so many jobs that pay as much as this one...

Just to provide the other side of this general advice, that is really everywhere, but rarely delivers in regards to happiness.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#532

Post by wiseowise »

throwaway2016a wrote: post #184
tubby12345 wrote: post #174

Earlier 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…

> 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.

Well, I'm sorry you have to go through the same ropes that we peasants do, you highness.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#533

Post by wiseowise »

tubby12345 wrote: post #379
throwaway2016a wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>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. This comment and those further down (particularly doubting the data) suggest that you're experiencing strong cognitive dissonance. There are, I'm sure, hundreds of engineers on HN that can testify to exactly how much FAANG pays and in which metro and…

> I'm just curious what you're expecting to have changed since the last time a post like this was made (you did say "every time I see..." so you've certainly seen many).

Hire me inflated ego without any tests, of course. God forbids I have to do anything to get a job that will put me in a bracket of earning more than 99.99% people in this world.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#534

Post by throwawayFanta »

mkhpalm wrote: post #407

If you're offering fabulous compensation packages that exceed the President of the United States for common software engineers with a little experience... wouldn't you want to use that to your advantage in your job postings? Every time I read an article like this I go looking for official numbers to validate what is being said. I'm not saying companies compensate poorly in SV. I just find it difficult to differentiat…

Just looking at the raw numbers they all seem outrageous. But if you take a look at some of these companies it makes a lot more sense.

The FAANG I work for makes a PROFIT of $2 mill/year for every employee. So it's easy for them to think, lets pay this lot $300-600k and use em to keep our advantage/keep them away from competition. For all I care they could be paying all of us $1 mill and still be making a good sum of money.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#535

Post by murderfs »

goodpoint wrote: post #268
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…

> Taxes are higher in Europe, which disincentivizes risk taking and ambitious individuals. The implication is unproven. Furthermore, most FAANGs dodge most taxes and have offices everywhere including in Europe, making your point moot. > Labor productivity is also lower in Europe. That has to do with US geopolitical influence. (and army). > Finally, Europe still has a culture where software engineers, cloud architects…

> Analysis on most technical or important FOSS projects prove otherwise, with EU having the brightest.

Such as? All of the prominent Europeans I can think of live in the United States: Linus Torvalds, Bjarne Stroustrup, Guido van Rossum, etc.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#536

Post by BlargMcLarg »

louis___ wrote: post #531
franciscop wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything else being the same, it's better to make 300k than 175k/year. And not everything is the same, normally in those better paid jobs you have better Engineers, a lot of challenging problems, many nice perks, etc. What you don't normally have is flexibility to negotiate special conditions e.g. 4day work week. Also you don't get highly ethical companies, just average ones at that (and it might actually be better…

But everything else is _never_ the same. Once you're paid more, you move into a bigger house, have more needs, and without knowing it you're just as tight on money as you were before. But then you just have more stress at work, and you just can't quit that easily bc there arent so many jobs that pay as much as this one... Just to provide the other side of this general advice, that is really everywhere, but rarely del…

>Once you're paid more, you move into a bigger house, have more needs, and without knowing it you're just as tight on money as you were before

This absolutely isn't a given. Lifestyle inflation to the extreme is in one's own hands first and foremost. Which is the most audacious part in this whole topic: yes your CoL is likely to be high if you earn such a giant income, but you are given options the majority of the west, let alone the world, will never have. As long as the percentage of one's income spent is roughly similar across all.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#537

Post by a_imho »

beebmam wrote: post #23
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.

Why are these numbers so massively different across the world? Do European companies generate that much less revenue? Or are labor unions in Europe just that much less effective at bargaining? Or is productivity that much lower in Europe? (I'm not sold on any of these)

There are plenty of US companies in Europe, it just turns out they can get away with underpaying people.

https://elsajohansson.wordpress.com/2017/09/13/what-does-a-w...

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#538

Post by a_imho »

HenryKissinger wrote: post #38
beebmam wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are these numbers so massively different across the world? Do European companies generate that much less revenue? Or are labor unions in Europe just that much less effective at bargaining? Or is productivity that much lower in Europe? (I'm not sold on any of these)

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…

Hackerrank begs to differ https://blog.hackerrank.com/which-country-would-win-in-the-p...

Again, there are plenty of US tech companies in Eastern Europe.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#539

Post by mFixman »

dkdbejwi383 wrote: post #483
mFixman wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FAANG in London pays ~£200k total comp for a senior engineer. There are also a couple of local non-FAANG companies that pay similar salaries.

> There are also a couple of local non-FAANG companies that pay similar salaries. Who, if you don’t mind?

A certain company I'd rather not mention since I'm still negotiating the offer to.

You can find good salary data in levels.fyi. In my experience, that is very accurate.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#540

Post by bryanrasmussen »

BlargMcLarg wrote: post #536
louis___ wrote: post #531

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But everything else is _never_ the same. Once you're paid more, you move into a bigger house, have more needs, and without knowing it you're just as tight on money as you were before. But then you just have more stress at work, and you just can't quit that easily bc there arent so many jobs that pay as much as this one... Just to provide the other side of this general advice, that is really everywhere, but rarely del…

>Once you're paid more, you move into a bigger house, have more needs, and without knowing it you're just as tight on money as you were before This absolutely isn't a given. Lifestyle inflation to the extreme is in one's own hands first and foremost. Which is the most audacious part in this whole topic: yes your CoL is likely to be high if you earn such a giant income, but you are given options the majority of the we…

>This absolutely isn't a given. Lifestyle inflation to the extreme is in one's own hands first and foremost.

yes, but most people do that lifestyle inflation - by most I'm going to go with 90+ percent

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