4 ms·

Selfishly... so will all this CapEx by TSMC, Samsung, and Intel put pressure on wages? I’m in the industry at a large company getting 3% raises, 10% of comp as

Selfishly... so will all this CapEx by TSMC, Samsung, and Intel put pressure on wages? I’m in the industry at a large company getting 3% raises, 10% of comp as stock, and a salary about 1/3 less than a software dev. All while being highly reviewed. I write a lot of software for my job (although it’s not my title) and I’ve been thinking of trying for pure software jobs even if the work is more boring (I do semiconductor R&D)

ed25519FUUU 6y ago
3% raise a pretty typical for software engineers as well.
- justsid 6y ago
  3% raise of 50k is much less than 3% of 150k though. GP could get a hella big pay bump and then much larger raises if he switched, even if on paper it’s still the same percentage.
coryrc 6y ago
I switched for the money
throwawayiIiIII 6y ago
I also find it surprising that Hardware Engineers have a lower pay scale (Although I didn't hear very big differences like you said). Is there some kind of supply-demand behind this? Engineers for car-related things as well. Anecdotally I think you could in theory get a title change to software engineer, while doing the same thing, to get more pay.
- kccqzy 6y ago
  There are big differences. A close friend who's a hardware engineer shared with me her salary. With five years of experience and a MS, her salary is the same as a fresh-out-of-undergrad junior software engineer at the same company. That's $120k in the valley.
  - kbelder 6y ago
    Huh, I'm surprised. As a software guy, I think the hardware engineer has a tougher job that requires more skill.
    - BeetleB 6y ago
      It is tougher, but how tough a job is has little to do with the pay. It's all about supply/demand ratio, which is higher for hardware engineers. Hence they get paid less. There are simply far fewer HW jobs than SW ones. While there are more SW engineers, it doesn't make up for the delta in number of jobs available. Even within the SW world, I've jumped around jobs of varying difficulty. The tougher jobs did not pay more.
musingsole 6y ago
I switched for the flexibility (only a few hardware players versus a seemingly endless list of software shops) but the pay bump has been nice.
BeetleB 6y ago
> I write a lot of software for my job (although it’s not my title) and I’ve been thinking of trying for pure software jobs even if the work is more boring (I do semiconductor R&D) This sounds like me in a past life. I assure you: It's worth the change. (Often) Easier work. Paid more. Treated better. Nicer work environment. It's worth it even if the pay were the same. Also, with SW roles in your resume, you can then find jobs outside the semiconductor industry. Lots more options available to you.
xiphias2 6y ago
If you don’t switch for higher salary, you are part of the problem. I can understand video game makers, but if your work is boring and have a low pay, and a great software skillset, improve the pay of your colleagues by switching.

ed25519FUUU 6y ago

3% raise a pretty typical for software engineers as well.

justsid 6y ago
3% raise of 50k is much less than 3% of 150k though. GP could get a hella big pay bump and then much larger raises if he switched, even if on paper it’s still the same percentage.

coryrc 6y ago

I switched for the money

throwawayiIiIII 6y ago

I also find it surprising that Hardware Engineers have a lower pay scale (Although I didn't hear very big differences like you said). Is there some kind of supply-demand behind this? Engineers for car-related things as well. Anecdotally I think you could in theory get a title change to software engineer, while doing the same thing, to get more pay.

kccqzy 6y ago
There are big differences. A close friend who's a hardware engineer shared with me her salary. With five years of experience and a MS, her salary is the same as a fresh-out-of-undergrad junior software engineer at the same company. That's $120k in the valley.
- kbelder 6y ago
  Huh, I'm surprised. As a software guy, I think the hardware engineer has a tougher job that requires more skill.
  - BeetleB 6y ago
    It is tougher, but how tough a job is has little to do with the pay. It's all about supply/demand ratio, which is higher for hardware engineers. Hence they get paid less. There are simply far fewer HW jobs than SW ones. While there are more SW engineers, it doesn't make up for the delta in number of jobs available. Even within the SW world, I've jumped around jobs of varying difficulty. The tougher jobs did not pay more.

musingsole 6y ago

I switched for the flexibility (only a few hardware players versus a seemingly endless list of software shops) but the pay bump has been nice.

BeetleB 6y ago

> I write a lot of software for my job (although it’s not my title) and I’ve been thinking of trying for pure software jobs even if the work is more boring (I do semiconductor R&D) This sounds like me in a past life. I assure you: It's worth the change. (Often) Easier work. Paid more. Treated better. Nicer work environment. It's worth it even if the pay were the same. Also, with SW roles in your resume, you can then find jobs outside the semiconductor industry. Lots more options available to you.

xiphias2 6y ago

If you don’t switch for higher salary, you are part of the problem. I can understand video game makers, but if your work is boring and have a low pay, and a great software skillset, improve the pay of your colleagues by switching.