5 ms·
We actually suspect that people who are paid less or are underpaid are more likely to report their salaries. For example, it seems like Glassdoor data skews low
by stepny 10y ago
We actually suspect that people who are paid less or are underpaid are more likely to report their salaries. For example, it seems like Glassdoor data skews low.
- tarr11 10y agoDo you have any data to support this?
- stepny 10y agoNo, we don't have hard data on this. We just notice that of the engineers on our platform, we find that the people who make more money generally don't seek out this kind of data. And the people who are more uncertain about what they should be making tend to be more curious and willing to share.
- tarr11 10y agoIf you are selling data, you will need to be extremely thoughtful, quantitative, and specific about the statements you put out, and be prepared to back them up. There is a market for doing user submitted comp analysis, but the real value is building trust, which takes a very long time and is expensive.
- overcast 10y agoSure, because Glassdoor is a place for people to go air their dirty laundry. With this, you're surveying a very niche group of users, that are probably being well paid.
- chris_wot 10y agoAnd potentially identifiable...
- Phlarp 10y agoGood, let HR get a hold of it, figure out who all the people sharing numbers are and fire them. Surely scalping a ton of mid level engineers at major tech firms for sharing their salaries online will fix that pesky problem of soaring profits and thick margins...
- chris_wot 10y agoAlready happened.
- ones_and_zeros 10y agoI can sort of understand that as a signal not to interview at the company or information for future potential coworkers to use during negotiations. A rising tide raises all ships so to speak. IMO sharing salary data is the perfect first step for some sort of software engineers association/guild/professional body.
- ben_jones 10y agoThis may be an unpopular opinion but if internet forums and message boards are any indication I don't want some omnipotent group of software developers making decisions for the industry as a whole. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and all that... And perhaps more relevant to the thread, I know two types of people who talk about their salary, people who make a lot and people who make a little. Their is just so much bias present to me to give any credibility to these lists. Take the google spreadsheet where the employee was fired, do you think the engineers who thought they did better then their peers in negotiations listed their wages?
- ones_and_zeros 10y agoI'm not sure I follow but you may be misunderstanding me. I'm definitely not advocating for an omnipotent group of software developers making decisions for the industry as a whole. I can only assume you've seen that advocated for somewhere else and are equivocating it with my post? At it's simplest level I think something like the SAG or profession sports players associations. Kept out of the way, stars can rise, and there if you need them. It'd be useful to be able to have an organization that I can say "Hey, I'm interviewing at Github, based on your verified compensation data that you keep, what can I expect?" The fact is, our employers share and buy each others compensation data similarly for use in negotiations and when setting compensation. It only makes sense that the parties on the other side of the table do the same thing.
- dsmithatx 10y agoHow did you determine that? Perhaps your expectations are just high?
- stepny 10y agoWe just notice that of the engineers on our platform, the people who make more money generally don't seek out this kind of data. And the people who are more uncertain about what they should be making tend to be more curious and willing to share.
- tamana 10y agoHow do you know how much money is earned by people you don't talk to?
- aluminussoma 10y agoGlassdoor has no way to distinguish newer salaries from older salaries - all are used to give one average number. Their average salary has so much old data that it doesn't keep up with the rate at which it's increasing these days.