4 ms·

That’s exactly what’s happened... software engineer salaries at the top end have grown like crazy.

by fipple 8y ago

dunpeal 8y ago
> software engineer salaries at the top end have grown like crazy. All I've seen are 30-50% increases over something like a decade. These are hardly "crazy" increases for a field in which profits have gone through the roof, and they only apply to the "top end" as you say. Developers below that top - i.e. the majority - have seen very modest increases at best. Check how much executive pay increased over the same time span, to get an idea of "crazy growth".
- sulam 8y ago
  New grad salaries have doubled in the last 20 years. They've gone up about 20% in the last _three_ years, in SF.
  - dunpeal 8y ago
    Do you realize how long of a timespan 20 years is? 20 years ago is 1998, i.e. before the internet revolution and the first bubble! What are the numbers for the past 5 years? That's way more relevant. > They've gone up about 20% in the last _three_ years, in SF. How much did cost of living rise in SF during that time?
    - adventured 8y ago
      20 years is plainly a long time ago for any professional in tech. Your time frames aren't correct though. The Web/Internet revolution ignited in 1994 with Netscape. The dotcom bubble started in August 1995 with the Netscape IPO. By September 1998 (20 years ago), it was already 3/4 of the way to peak bubble and everything was already very crazy. 1998 was prime Internet revolution (also the year Google was founded). The Nasdaq climbed 100% over two years, first hitting 2,000 in mid 1998. The dotcom mania topped out in late 1999, the market topped out shortly thereafter.
      - dunpeal 8y ago
        Fair points, but my key argument regarding the timeframe was that it was merely the dawn of the modern tech industry. Things were just getting really started. The entire FAANG group was either in its infancy or wasn't founded at all (Facefook was only founded in 2,004, for example). The sustainable, profitable tech industry we know today was just getting started back then.
        sulam 8y ago
        Intel. Microsoft. Apple. The PC Manufacturers. The sustainable, profitable tech industry existed then, it just wasn't Internet-related (mostly). We all have the "optical illusion" that things started once we were around to perceive them. They usually go further back than that.
    - woolvalley 8y ago
      Total comp has gone up about %25 in new offers in the past 3 years. Rent has been about stable in the past 3 years in SF.
  - vonmoltke 8y ago
    Top new grad salaries. Median is up far less than that.
- empath75 8y ago
  In 5 years my personal salary tripled. I have no degree at all. I just jumped on devops and containers at the right time.
  - dunpeal 8y ago
    You're an outlier. Congrats! Sounds like you jumped from a low-level sysadmin role to a senior devops role. That's a quantum leap and not comparable to what the average developer saw during the same timeframe.
    - friedman23 8y ago
      He's not an outlier. Salaries are simply insanely high in SF, it's the only reason I stay here.
      - dunpeal 8y ago
        5x increase is an outlier no matter how you look at it. 5 years ago salaries in SF for an SWE were already around 150k base at least, won't you agree? So if GP was typical, you'd expect the a average base to be around $750k now. Obviously it's not. Overall SF is higher than most places, but maybe 25% higher. Not 2x higher, let alone 5x higher.

That’s exactly what’s happened... software engineer salaries at the top end have grown like crazy.

by fipple 8y ago

That’s exactly what’s happened... software engineer salaries at the top end have grown like crazy.

> software engineer salaries at the top end have grown like crazy. All I've seen are 30-50% increases over something like a decade. These are hardly "crazy" increases for a field in which profits have gone through the roof, and they only apply to the "top end" as you say. Developers below that top - i.e. the majority - have seen very modest increases at best. Check how much executive pay increased over the same time span, to get an idea of "crazy growth".

sulam 8y ago
New grad salaries have doubled in the last 20 years. They've gone up about 20% in the last _three_ years, in SF.
- dunpeal 8y ago
  Do you realize how long of a timespan 20 years is? 20 years ago is 1998, i.e. before the internet revolution and the first bubble! What are the numbers for the past 5 years? That's way more relevant. > They've gone up about 20% in the last _three_ years, in SF. How much did cost of living rise in SF during that time?
  - adventured 8y ago
    20 years is plainly a long time ago for any professional in tech. Your time frames aren't correct though. The Web/Internet revolution ignited in 1994 with Netscape. The dotcom bubble started in August 1995 with the Netscape IPO. By September 1998 (20 years ago), it was already 3/4 of the way to peak bubble and everything was already very crazy. 1998 was prime Internet revolution (also the year Google was founded). The Nasdaq climbed 100% over two years, first hitting 2,000 in mid 1998. The dotcom mania topped out in late 1999, the market topped out shortly thereafter.
    - dunpeal 8y ago
      Fair points, but my key argument regarding the timeframe was that it was merely the dawn of the modern tech industry. Things were just getting really started. The entire FAANG group was either in its infancy or wasn't founded at all (Facefook was only founded in 2,004, for example). The sustainable, profitable tech industry we know today was just getting started back then.
      - sulam 8y ago
        Intel. Microsoft. Apple. The PC Manufacturers. The sustainable, profitable tech industry existed then, it just wasn't Internet-related (mostly). We all have the "optical illusion" that things started once we were around to perceive them. They usually go further back than that.
  - woolvalley 8y ago
    Total comp has gone up about %25 in new offers in the past 3 years. Rent has been about stable in the past 3 years in SF.
- vonmoltke 8y ago
  Top new grad salaries. Median is up far less than that.
empath75 8y ago
In 5 years my personal salary tripled. I have no degree at all. I just jumped on devops and containers at the right time.
- dunpeal 8y ago
  You're an outlier. Congrats! Sounds like you jumped from a low-level sysadmin role to a senior devops role. That's a quantum leap and not comparable to what the average developer saw during the same timeframe.
  - friedman23 8y ago
    He's not an outlier. Salaries are simply insanely high in SF, it's the only reason I stay here.
    - dunpeal 8y ago
      5x increase is an outlier no matter how you look at it. 5 years ago salaries in SF for an SWE were already around 150k base at least, won't you agree? So if GP was typical, you'd expect the a average base to be around $750k now. Obviously it's not. Overall SF is higher than most places, but maybe 25% higher. Not 2x higher, let alone 5x higher.