4 ms·

Yes, I feel pay for developers is going to become more bimodal as time goes on; similar to lawyer compensation.

MrPowers 6y ago
Yep, agreed. Here's an article for the bimodal nature of starting salaries for lawyers for interested parties: https://www.biglawinvestor.com/bimodal-salary-distribution-curve/ https://www.biglawinvestor.com/bimodal-salary-distribution-c... The upper end of the biglaw salaries was capped because of an unspoken "cartel pricing cap". Big law firms don't want to compete for the upper-echelon talent. Not sure if tech companies will be able to informally collude in such a manner to cap the upper end of the bimodal curve.
- phendrenad2 6y ago
  This is fascinating. I wonder if doctors and engineers and other knowledge-based professions have a similar distribution if you look hard enough.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- bradleyjg 6y ago
  BigLaw is getting squeezed by its clients. There are increasing numbers of companies that don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars an hour for fresh grads no matter how bright. That leaves law firms with the choice of either subsidizing young associates, which is dangerous given the competition for top partners, or finding some way to cut pay. While few have wanted to break away from marquee associate pay, the quiet rise of staff attorneys at BigLaw represents the breakdown of the bimodal system.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    I know a relatively new lawyer that moved from a top law firm in NYC to a tech firm on the west coast and got a huge increase in pay, especially per hour worked.
    - vidarh 6y ago
      Getting a rise per hour worked in law by leaving the big law firms is often "easy". My ex worked for one of the top lawfirms in London, and quickly realised their very high headline pay (straight out of uni into ~2x median UK pay, and increasing at far above average rates for 10+ years) gave the new graduates lower per-hour pay than their secretaries. It was basically a death-march to see who'd stick it out long enough. Only a few would make partner anyway, so they needed to shed a lot of people to make their cost structure work, and so they'd work them into the ground and use who stays as the selection method at the lower end.
      - bradleyjg 6y ago
        In case anyone want to read more about this, that employment structure is called the “tournament model”.
      - lotsofpulp 6y ago
        It was a raise by absolute value also, not just per hour. Added bonus of no income tax in Washington.
- njarboe 6y ago
  They have before[1]. I think one reason salaries started to climb so much recently in silicon valley was because this collusion to suppress salaries ended. [1]https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-google-others-settle-anti-poaching-lawsuit-for-415-million/ https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-google-others-settle-anti-po...

Yep, agreed. Here's an article for the bimodal nature of starting salaries for lawyers for interested parties: https://www.biglawinvestor.com/bimodal-salary-distribution-curve/ https://www.biglawinvestor.com/bimodal-salary-distribution-c... The upper end of the biglaw salaries was capped because of an unspoken "cartel pricing cap". Big law firms don't want to compete for the upper-echelon talent. Not sure if tech companies will be able to informally collude in such a manner to cap the upper end of the bimodal curve.

phendrenad2 6y ago
This is fascinating. I wonder if doctors and engineers and other knowledge-based professions have a similar distribution if you look hard enough.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
bradleyjg 6y ago
BigLaw is getting squeezed by its clients. There are increasing numbers of companies that don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars an hour for fresh grads no matter how bright. That leaves law firms with the choice of either subsidizing young associates, which is dangerous given the competition for top partners, or finding some way to cut pay. While few have wanted to break away from marquee associate pay, the quiet rise of staff attorneys at BigLaw represents the breakdown of the bimodal system.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  I know a relatively new lawyer that moved from a top law firm in NYC to a tech firm on the west coast and got a huge increase in pay, especially per hour worked.
  - vidarh 6y ago
    Getting a rise per hour worked in law by leaving the big law firms is often "easy". My ex worked for one of the top lawfirms in London, and quickly realised their very high headline pay (straight out of uni into ~2x median UK pay, and increasing at far above average rates for 10+ years) gave the new graduates lower per-hour pay than their secretaries. It was basically a death-march to see who'd stick it out long enough. Only a few would make partner anyway, so they needed to shed a lot of people to make their cost structure work, and so they'd work them into the ground and use who stays as the selection method at the lower end.
    - bradleyjg 6y ago
      In case anyone want to read more about this, that employment structure is called the “tournament model”.
    - lotsofpulp 6y ago
      It was a raise by absolute value also, not just per hour. Added bonus of no income tax in Washington.
njarboe 6y ago
They have before[1]. I think one reason salaries started to climb so much recently in silicon valley was because this collusion to suppress salaries ended. [1]https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-google-others-settle-anti-poaching-lawsuit-for-415-million/ https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-google-others-settle-anti-po...