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All I can say is: it doesn't match the accounts I am hearing from friends. For example, a couple of my friends interviewed with Amazon fairly recently, for sen

All I can say is: it doesn't match the accounts I am hearing from friends. For example, a couple of my friends interviewed with Amazon fairly recently, for senior engineering positions. In every case when the same person received an offer from Amazon + another FAANG - the other FAANG offer was substantially higher. In one case I know the exact numbers, and the other FAANG offer was 50% (!) higher. > The difference in compensation between amazon and fb/google/netflix is minimal except for at the very junior levels. This not only contradicts what I know from friends, it also makes little sense. Hiring top talent straight out of college is a huge priority for companies like Amazon, which is trying to build a strong talent base. Underpaying at the entry level means they'll lose all the best candidates. Only paying competitively at more senior levels means they're counting on these people to suddenly relocate to Seattle after 5-6+ years at another FAANG, which would never happen. Especially as Amazon doesn't pay particularly well at the senior level too. You want to tell me an L4-5 from Google will move to Seattle to work as an SDE3 for "almost $300k"? I.E. take a 50% paycut to work for a company with worse reputation in an area that has far fewer tech jobs than the Bay? Mid career? Please. It's pretty well known that if you get an offer from Amazon and also from Facebook or Google, you will accept Facebook or Google. This is true for all levels, and the numbers you are quoting only confirm this preference. My impression is that Amazon has been having trouble competing for top talent, and is working to improve its propositions, with this big new office in NYC being part of the pitch. They do have ways to go before they can actually compete with the better FAANGs out there, to the point when people will routinely choose them over Facebook or Google or Apple.

zjaffee 8y ago
Just look at levels.fyi which is relatively up to date data on how much people make at each level. The level to level mapping may be higher at google, but google is also notorious for down leveling, and in turn making less money and having less ability for quick advancement anyways. Add on the fact that amazon has had better stock growth and the total amount is negligible. I've worked at multiple fangs/unicorns, and any differences between these companies is largely marginal. Maybe amazon is worse now than I realized, and maybe other companies are better now than I realized, but overall, what ultimately matters more is that you're at a place that will allow you to keep getting promoted rather than any one company that pays more at any given level.

zjaffee 8y ago

Just look at levels.fyi which is relatively up to date data on how much people make at each level. The level to level mapping may be higher at google, but google is also notorious for down leveling, and in turn making less money and having less ability for quick advancement anyways. Add on the fact that amazon has had better stock growth and the total amount is negligible. I've worked at multiple fangs/unicorns, and any differences between these companies is largely marginal. Maybe amazon is worse now than I realized, and maybe other companies are better now than I realized, but overall, what ultimately matters more is that you're at a place that will allow you to keep getting promoted rather than any one company that pays more at any given level.