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I can speak from my own anecdotal experience. I am an Indian immigrant with 2.5 yrs of industry experience and a masters degree from a decent school. Please not

I can speak from my own anecdotal experience. I am an Indian immigrant with 2.5 yrs of industry experience and a masters degree from a decent school. Please note that I do not support the H1b abuse by the outsourcing firms. They are pure evil and I honestly hope they go bankrupt. I also believe H1b needs to be reformed to remove the loopholes but that is a topic for another day. I was recently in the job market and got three offers within a month. One from a big four tech firm Amazon/Facebook/MS/Google, one from a big four consulting firm Deloitte/E&Y/PWC/KPMG and the final one from a very promising startup in North Carolina. The first two paid above market rate but the startup paid 105k + equity because they cannot afford to pay more than that. Thing is, my specific skill set is in shortage ( Big Data and Analytics) and I am sure there are a few other specialized fields where there is a shortage. There may be a number of kick-ass local software engineers in the market but it is the specific skill set the companies need. Please do not tell me that companies can just hire local candidates and train them on the skill set they need. There simply isn't that much time and experience trumps(yea I know its ironic) training. When a company pays you N amount, they expect X amount of value from you where X is a multiple of N. Also, these companies are often competing with each other to get a product out to the market as fast as possible. Loosing precious time in training is not very optimal as your competitor might beat you. To be honest, I do not think I can be considered the best in my field and a good american developer can do my job if s/he has the necessary experience. Right now, demand for data engineers with big data skills far outstrips the supply. This won't be the case in say 4-5 years down the line. STEM in itself is a very broad term, Software development has many disciplines. Are you a Sr. Software Developer who wants to get paid that 200k salary in your local market outside of Silicon Valley? Make sure to cultivate a skill set that is in shortage. Simple macro economics. For those who are curious, I took up the consulting position and am getting paid 120k base + 10k signing bonus + 10-15% year end bonus + other benefits. Not bad for a person with 2.5 years of industry experience who lives in North Carolina. Is it?

TuringNYC 10y ago
By the way, $120k is nice for NC, but the banks in NC pay $180k for the same talent. There is no shortage in NC for Big Data and Analytics talent, the company cannot find the talent because they are simply not paying as much as Wells Fargo next door. If they pay $180k, they will find all the talent they need. They might even convince talent from NY/NJ to move down for that sum. AIG Investments recently convinced a dozen+ group of analytics workers to move down to NC for that salary range. The people would not have moved down for $120k. Also, $120k is pretty nice, until you have some kids and loads of medical co-pays, dental fees, school fees, and then it is simply too little. Dont believe me? Several years ago, my medical co-pays post insurance were over $20,000 for the year, which is more like $32,000 pre-tax. What happens is people move into non technical roles which pay commensurate to skillsets. There is no shortage of skillsets, there is simply a shortage of experienced people willing to take sub-market wages for strong resumes.
- capRidiculous 10y ago
  I know three people (2 immigrants on H1b) of the top of my head that are getting paid 200k + inclusive of year end bonus in NC and they have 10 + years of experience in the industry. My old company tried to find a Big Data and Analytics lead for 6 months before giving up. They simply could not find anyone good. This was back in 2014-15. They were willing to go upto 200k to pay for it. To pay anything more than that would not be worth it for them as the ROI just does not make sense at that point. My role is of a Sr.Associate which requires 2-4 years of experience and I am a 27 year old guy. Would you really pay 200k plus for a person with my level of experience? Hiring a person with more experience for my position and paying 200k plus does not make sense because they would be over qualified for what I do. Also, there are not enough local developers with 2-4 years of exp with my skill set. At my old firm, I personally mentored 2 american fresh grads because they could not find Jr.developers with Big Data skills. I am pretty sure that I can make more than 180k in NC by the time I turn 32-33 but I will need to upgrade my skills at that point. I am already looking at Blockchain instead of waiting for my company to train me. I believe that it will be in demand 2-3 years down the line. I support the increase in wages but you also need to consider what ROI you are bringing to the company if you are commanding a 200k + salary in a place like NC. Are you brining a 3-4x annual return? Then yes, command that salary by all means. If not, you do not deserve such a hefty pay check.
  - TuringNYC 10y ago
    I'm running a startup right now, and you are absolutely correct -- I would not pay $200k for an analytics person. Our company's unit economics cannot support that type of wage. However, i'll be honest and say we cannot afford the market wage, so we make development decisions accordingly. It would be dishonest for me to claim a shortage when I'm clearly not paying market wages. Not wanting to pay market wages is not evidence of a shortage. You get what you pay for. I drive a Hyundai because I am not willing to pay $80,000 for a car. I'll be honest and say I'm unwilling to purchase a Corvette. There is no shortage of Corvettes, i'm just not willing to pay for one. If I try to pay $27,000 for a Corvette, that is not a shortage, that is just nonsensical.

TuringNYC 10y ago

By the way, $120k is nice for NC, but the banks in NC pay $180k for the same talent. There is no shortage in NC for Big Data and Analytics talent, the company cannot find the talent because they are simply not paying as much as Wells Fargo next door. If they pay $180k, they will find all the talent they need. They might even convince talent from NY/NJ to move down for that sum. AIG Investments recently convinced a dozen+ group of analytics workers to move down to NC for that salary range. The people would not have moved down for $120k. Also, $120k is pretty nice, until you have some kids and loads of medical co-pays, dental fees, school fees, and then it is simply too little. Dont believe me? Several years ago, my medical co-pays post insurance were over $20,000 for the year, which is more like $32,000 pre-tax. What happens is people move into non technical roles which pay commensurate to skillsets. There is no shortage of skillsets, there is simply a shortage of experienced people willing to take sub-market wages for strong resumes.

capRidiculous 10y ago
I know three people (2 immigrants on H1b) of the top of my head that are getting paid 200k + inclusive of year end bonus in NC and they have 10 + years of experience in the industry. My old company tried to find a Big Data and Analytics lead for 6 months before giving up. They simply could not find anyone good. This was back in 2014-15. They were willing to go upto 200k to pay for it. To pay anything more than that would not be worth it for them as the ROI just does not make sense at that point. My role is of a Sr.Associate which requires 2-4 years of experience and I am a 27 year old guy. Would you really pay 200k plus for a person with my level of experience? Hiring a person with more experience for my position and paying 200k plus does not make sense because they would be over qualified for what I do. Also, there are not enough local developers with 2-4 years of exp with my skill set. At my old firm, I personally mentored 2 american fresh grads because they could not find Jr.developers with Big Data skills. I am pretty sure that I can make more than 180k in NC by the time I turn 32-33 but I will need to upgrade my skills at that point. I am already looking at Blockchain instead of waiting for my company to train me. I believe that it will be in demand 2-3 years down the line. I support the increase in wages but you also need to consider what ROI you are bringing to the company if you are commanding a 200k + salary in a place like NC. Are you brining a 3-4x annual return? Then yes, command that salary by all means. If not, you do not deserve such a hefty pay check.
- TuringNYC 10y ago
  I'm running a startup right now, and you are absolutely correct -- I would not pay $200k for an analytics person. Our company's unit economics cannot support that type of wage. However, i'll be honest and say we cannot afford the market wage, so we make development decisions accordingly. It would be dishonest for me to claim a shortage when I'm clearly not paying market wages. Not wanting to pay market wages is not evidence of a shortage. You get what you pay for. I drive a Hyundai because I am not willing to pay $80,000 for a car. I'll be honest and say I'm unwilling to purchase a Corvette. There is no shortage of Corvettes, i'm just not willing to pay for one. If I try to pay $27,000 for a Corvette, that is not a shortage, that is just nonsensical.