4 ms·

Let's put it another way: we are looking at the top 1% of software engineers. Is it surprising that they have incomes in the 1% range? For comparison, in Amazo

Let's put it another way: we are looking at the top 1% of software engineers. Is it surprising that they have incomes in the 1% range? For comparison, in Amazon, Senior and above engineers count for ~20% of the total, and those are the ones pulling +300k regularly. So only the top 20% of one of the top companies are getting such compensation. And to follow the article, this won't last forever. Whenever the next stock market crash comes, almost half of that compensation (the equity based one) will almost vanish. But maybe on the next bull market we will see a similar situation (remember people in the 90s making 250k?).

mac01021 8y ago
> Whenever the next stock market crash comes, almost half of that compensation (the equity based one) will almost vanish. You're saying the value of (for example) Google stock will plummet to 10% or less and then not recover at all over the following few years?
- sciencewolf 8y ago
  Wouldn't be the first time (see AOL, Yahoo, Pets.com, etc).
- angarg12 8y ago
  Amazon went down over 90% from peak to valley after the .com bubble. It then took 7 years to recover to peak valuation. I don't think a 90% drop is common, but I also don't think it's outrageous.
driverdan 8y ago
> we are looking at the top 1% of software engineers Working for a big company that pays well does not mean you're at the top 1% of software engineers. It means you're willing to do what it takes to secure that job and maintain it, including moving somewhere many don't want to live.
- esoterica 8y ago
  It means you're in the top 1% of software engineers in the only metric that matters.
  - r32a_ 8y ago
    Not really, I rather be paid less but work remote and have more freedom with my time and where I work.
  - spenczar5 8y ago
    To be explicit, you're saying the only metric that matters (when we're ranking software engineers) is how well-paid a software engineer is?
    - solveit 8y ago
      When we're discussing income, that seems reasonable.
      - soup10 8y ago
        people working on new systems and tech are generally better programmers than people hacking away at enterprise spaghetti at a big corp. big corp jobs like that pay better for less work though.
        el_cid 8y ago
        To be fair - that's not the point he was making. As we were discussing income - that's the only metric that matters in the discussion at hand.
- sgustard 8y ago
  "willing to do what it takes to secure that job and maintain it" Some (most?) of that is innate ability and intelligence. Sure, there are well-paying jobs that are unpleasant. But for many others the company literally gets to choose 1 out of 100 candidates.
deanCommie 8y ago
Less. Closer to 10%

mac01021 8y ago

> Whenever the next stock market crash comes, almost half of that compensation (the equity based one) will almost vanish. You're saying the value of (for example) Google stock will plummet to 10% or less and then not recover at all over the following few years?

sciencewolf 8y ago
Wouldn't be the first time (see AOL, Yahoo, Pets.com, etc).
angarg12 8y ago
Amazon went down over 90% from peak to valley after the .com bubble. It then took 7 years to recover to peak valuation. I don't think a 90% drop is common, but I also don't think it's outrageous.

driverdan 8y ago

> we are looking at the top 1% of software engineers Working for a big company that pays well does not mean you're at the top 1% of software engineers. It means you're willing to do what it takes to secure that job and maintain it, including moving somewhere many don't want to live.

esoterica 8y ago
It means you're in the top 1% of software engineers in the only metric that matters.
- r32a_ 8y ago
  Not really, I rather be paid less but work remote and have more freedom with my time and where I work.
- spenczar5 8y ago
  To be explicit, you're saying the only metric that matters (when we're ranking software engineers) is how well-paid a software engineer is?
  - solveit 8y ago
    When we're discussing income, that seems reasonable.
    - soup10 8y ago
      people working on new systems and tech are generally better programmers than people hacking away at enterprise spaghetti at a big corp. big corp jobs like that pay better for less work though.
      - el_cid 8y ago
        To be fair - that's not the point he was making. As we were discussing income - that's the only metric that matters in the discussion at hand.
sgustard 8y ago
"willing to do what it takes to secure that job and maintain it" Some (most?) of that is innate ability and intelligence. Sure, there are well-paying jobs that are unpleasant. But for many others the company literally gets to choose 1 out of 100 candidates.

deanCommie 8y ago

Less. Closer to 10%