5 ms·

>Sillicon valley is more then google and apple It is... but the top tier companies pay dramatically more than the next tier down. Like, we're talking 30-50% d

by lsc 7y ago

>Sillicon valley is more then google and apple It is... but the top tier companies pay dramatically more than the next tier down. Like, we're talking 30-50% difference once you count total comp. (it's interesting, base salary is somewhat comparable... but stock and bonus are a big part of comp if you work at a FAANG company, and those... largely don't exist at third-tier companies.) The top-tier employers also do a lot to bring up salary pressure on the lower tiers; if the FAANG companies didn't pay so much, the most desirable people wouldn't leave the lower paying companies, wouldn't make room for someone less desirable, etc... That's how I got my start; I didn't go to college, but I did work my way up through those smaller companies, into larger companies that paid better and better.

jcadam 7y ago
Very few companies include bonus as a part of a software engineer's compensation (large SV companies are more or less alone in this). Bonuses are generally reserved for executives (excluding sales staff, of course) in most industries, including mine (defense). Though, salary for software engineers has been ticking up lately. I suppose I can thank the demand for engineers created by these tech companies for that.
- lsc 7y ago
  >Very few companies include bonus as a part of a software engineer's compensation (large SV companies are more or less alone in this). Bonuses are generally reserved for executives (excluding sales staff, of course) in most industries, including mine (defense). Yup, that's what I'm saying. I'm just a sysadmin; I'd never gotten a bonus in my 20 years working as a programmer or sysadmin, mostly at tier 3 tech companies... not until I started working at a FAANG company these last few years, but the bonus + equity is a really significant portion of my compensation now, and brings the whole package from "nicely comfortable for someone who didn't go to college" to "wow"
  - jcadam 7y ago
    I'm much too old to work at a FAANG :), I do make a pretty good salary for the area of the county I live in, though. In any case, moving to SV would only be worth it if salary+bonus were close to half a Megabuck, and I doubt there are more than a dozen engineers in the world making that kind of money as a FTE.
    - lsc 7y ago
      https://www.paysa.com/salaries/netflix--senior-software-engineer https://www.paysa.com/salaries/netflix--senior-software-engi... so, uh, if you think software engineers are engineers, half a megabuck is a lot more attainable than you think. I mean, I'm not saying it's easy, but it's not 'no more than a dozen worldwide" - a megabuck just isn't what it used to be. (I mean, to be clear, if you limit the field to people I'm personally close enough to share this sort of data with, you are looking at a quarter megabuck if you really are pretty good, but from what I see? paysa isn't lying; I punch in my title and job and location, and it's not far off.) My own personal impression is that it's easier to be 60-somthing man at a faang company than it is to be a woman. mean, I'm not saying age discrimination doesn't exist, but I do work with a fair number of folks in their 60s.(Of course, not being a woman and not being 60 something, my impression here is somewhat suspect.) I'm pushing 40 myself, and on my current team there are more people who are obviously older than I am than there are people who are obviously younger than I am. (Systems administration drifts older (I assume 'cause kids don't have to learn command line stuff to use computers anymore, and if you are gonna learn it, you might as well go for SRE or SWE and get a pretty good pay bump) and the last half-decade or so, I've been supporting server farms for folks doing electrical engineering, system verilog and the like or kernel-type/embedded work, which also tends attract older people.) (Of course, your locational preferences and housing space requirements are yours, I'm just saying)

by lsc 7y ago

jcadam 7y ago

Very few companies include bonus as a part of a software engineer's compensation (large SV companies are more or less alone in this). Bonuses are generally reserved for executives (excluding sales staff, of course) in most industries, including mine (defense). Though, salary for software engineers has been ticking up lately. I suppose I can thank the demand for engineers created by these tech companies for that.

lsc 7y ago
>Very few companies include bonus as a part of a software engineer's compensation (large SV companies are more or less alone in this). Bonuses are generally reserved for executives (excluding sales staff, of course) in most industries, including mine (defense). Yup, that's what I'm saying. I'm just a sysadmin; I'd never gotten a bonus in my 20 years working as a programmer or sysadmin, mostly at tier 3 tech companies... not until I started working at a FAANG company these last few years, but the bonus + equity is a really significant portion of my compensation now, and brings the whole package from "nicely comfortable for someone who didn't go to college" to "wow"
- jcadam 7y ago
  I'm much too old to work at a FAANG :), I do make a pretty good salary for the area of the county I live in, though. In any case, moving to SV would only be worth it if salary+bonus were close to half a Megabuck, and I doubt there are more than a dozen engineers in the world making that kind of money as a FTE.
  - lsc 7y ago
    https://www.paysa.com/salaries/netflix--senior-software-engineer https://www.paysa.com/salaries/netflix--senior-software-engi... so, uh, if you think software engineers are engineers, half a megabuck is a lot more attainable than you think. I mean, I'm not saying it's easy, but it's not 'no more than a dozen worldwide" - a megabuck just isn't what it used to be. (I mean, to be clear, if you limit the field to people I'm personally close enough to share this sort of data with, you are looking at a quarter megabuck if you really are pretty good, but from what I see? paysa isn't lying; I punch in my title and job and location, and it's not far off.) My own personal impression is that it's easier to be 60-somthing man at a faang company than it is to be a woman. mean, I'm not saying age discrimination doesn't exist, but I do work with a fair number of folks in their 60s.(Of course, not being a woman and not being 60 something, my impression here is somewhat suspect.) I'm pushing 40 myself, and on my current team there are more people who are obviously older than I am than there are people who are obviously younger than I am. (Systems administration drifts older (I assume 'cause kids don't have to learn command line stuff to use computers anymore, and if you are gonna learn it, you might as well go for SRE or SWE and get a pretty good pay bump) and the last half-decade or so, I've been supporting server farms for folks doing electrical engineering, system verilog and the like or kernel-type/embedded work, which also tends attract older people.) (Of course, your locational preferences and housing space requirements are yours, I'm just saying)