7 ms·

His payment do not seems so crazy. 200k for devs and 500k for manager.

by dopidopHN 5y ago

kome 5y ago
that's crazy high even for most of the US
- weakfish 5y ago
  The fact that you're being down voted shows the HN bias in action
- pc86 5y ago
  $200k is not "crazy high" - it's higher than a lot, for sure, but if you're in a HCOL area and work for a big company (not even FAANG-level) you can make that much within a few years at most. FAANG is even higher - median new grad total comp at Google is about $190k. Senior is almost twice that.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - whimsicalism 5y ago
    Google is one of the best paying companies for new grads in the world, much better than government work
- Retric 5y ago
  Top computer security professional can make a lot of money. 10+ years ago I knew someone making 350k in northern VA and a few people over the 200k range. It’s generally an unpleasant job with a small talent pool and plenty of options to move into other areas.
  - echelon 5y ago
    $350k isn't an "incredible" compensation package, and $200k shouldn't be considered high. You can earn that remotely pretty much anywhere working for a FAANG or fintech. I'm making $500k+ in Atlanta as a reference point. As are my coworkers. I'm not super senior, and I'm not bragging. I just want to spread awareness of the existence and obtainability of these salaries.
    - crikeym8 5y ago
      You are hilariously out of touch.
      - echelon 5y ago
        How am I out of touch if I'm reporting my actual total comp and that of my coworkers? Some businesses pay more than others. 100 billion, trillion dollar companies can afford to throw money around. They need lots of engineers to keep their services running and will do what it takes to attract them. Just look at levels.fyi! That's real data. You'll see 600k, 700k jobs.
        crikeym8 5y ago
        350k is an incredible amount of money. You're not adding much to this discussion other than bragging about how much you make.
        echelon 5y ago
        I'm telling people to shop around. And I've always told people to shop around: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28561460 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28561460 Etc. all throughout my post history. People in Atlanta in particular aren't aware of these salaries and they need to know. I'll tell people more details if they reach out. It behooves me to get people paid more in Atlanta. It drives up market rates and brings more talent here. It also brings more high quality work and venture capital. Before the pandemic, I spent a lot of time recruiting and telling people about this f2f. My improv buddies, people at bars, literally anyone who also worked in software. If you aren't making this money and aren't happy, keep looking. There are places that are trying to fill headcount that will pay this salary. Conversely, there are a lot of new startups that can't compete in the salary dimension and will use other perks such as 4-day work weeks, work abroad, and other desirable things that drive recruitment and retention. There are very few jobs that aren't plumbing crud at some level. Find something that gives you what you want in exchange for crud plumbing. When I start a company I likely can't afford this kind of comp either, so I'll do my best to make it up with other tangible perks. Like 4-day weeks and interesting domain work. Even if you're not making these wages now, it doesn't mean you can't or won't. I want all of us to make bank. It gives us FIRE, financial mobility, ability to pursue bootstrapped startups, etc. Please don't normalize lower pay. It hurts us all.
  - dr-detroit 5y ago
    northern VA cost of living is about 100x
- kodah 5y ago
  Being a SWE with even an implementor background in security is quite lucrative. Someone has to make all the crypto libraries that mathematicians come up with.
mikeyouse 5y ago
Not sure if UAE is the same but my friends who worked in Saudi paid $0 income tax (some token amount of US tax to avoid the gaze of the IRS) and had their house and car arranged by the company. So a $200k salary in SA was much more akin to a $350k salary in California in terms of the amount of money you’d save.
- singlow 5y ago
  If you are American you still pay us taxes, no matter where you live. And you may need to report the house and car as taxable income as well.
  - aorth 5y ago
    > If you are American you still pay us taxes, no matter where you live. You have to file, yes, but you don't necessarily have to pay. For Federal taxes there is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. As long as you are outside of the US for at least 330 days in a year you can exclude up to $108,700 (for 2021) in foreign earnings. There are a few other scenarios too.
    - singlow 5y ago
      In this case you would pay. No FEIC if you don't pay taxes in the country where you earned the income. The UAE doesn't have a federal income tax and has no tax treaty with the US so several boxes are missing for FEIC.
      - tdfx 5y ago
        > No FEIC if you don't pay taxes in the country where you earned the income That's technically only true for one of the two possible tests for FEIE. The presence test doesn't require any taxes to be paid anywhere else, and the bona fide resident test only requires that your "tax home" is in a different country.
Taylor_OD 5y ago
I'm not 100% sure but for former NSA folks I think that is pretty great. I don't think the NSA pays all that well. At least not if you are used to fang salaries.

His payment do not seems so crazy. 200k for devs and 500k for manager.

kome 5y ago

that's crazy high even for most of the US

weakfish 5y ago
The fact that you're being down voted shows the HN bias in action
pc86 5y ago
$200k is not "crazy high" - it's higher than a lot, for sure, but if you're in a HCOL area and work for a big company (not even FAANG-level) you can make that much within a few years at most. FAANG is even higher - median new grad total comp at Google is about $190k. Senior is almost twice that.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- whimsicalism 5y ago
  Google is one of the best paying companies for new grads in the world, much better than government work
Retric 5y ago
Top computer security professional can make a lot of money. 10+ years ago I knew someone making 350k in northern VA and a few people over the 200k range. It’s generally an unpleasant job with a small talent pool and plenty of options to move into other areas.
- echelon 5y ago
  $350k isn't an "incredible" compensation package, and $200k shouldn't be considered high. You can earn that remotely pretty much anywhere working for a FAANG or fintech. I'm making $500k+ in Atlanta as a reference point. As are my coworkers. I'm not super senior, and I'm not bragging. I just want to spread awareness of the existence and obtainability of these salaries.
  - crikeym8 5y ago
    You are hilariously out of touch.
    - echelon 5y ago
      How am I out of touch if I'm reporting my actual total comp and that of my coworkers? Some businesses pay more than others. 100 billion, trillion dollar companies can afford to throw money around. They need lots of engineers to keep their services running and will do what it takes to attract them. Just look at levels.fyi! That's real data. You'll see 600k, 700k jobs.
      - crikeym8 5y ago
        350k is an incredible amount of money. You're not adding much to this discussion other than bragging about how much you make.
        echelon 5y ago
        I'm telling people to shop around. And I've always told people to shop around: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28561460 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28561460 Etc. all throughout my post history. People in Atlanta in particular aren't aware of these salaries and they need to know. I'll tell people more details if they reach out. It behooves me to get people paid more in Atlanta. It drives up market rates and brings more talent here. It also brings more high quality work and venture capital. Before the pandemic, I spent a lot of time recruiting and telling people about this f2f. My improv buddies, people at bars, literally anyone who also worked in software. If you aren't making this money and aren't happy, keep looking. There are places that are trying to fill headcount that will pay this salary. Conversely, there are a lot of new startups that can't compete in the salary dimension and will use other perks such as 4-day work weeks, work abroad, and other desirable things that drive recruitment and retention. There are very few jobs that aren't plumbing crud at some level. Find something that gives you what you want in exchange for crud plumbing. When I start a company I likely can't afford this kind of comp either, so I'll do my best to make it up with other tangible perks. Like 4-day weeks and interesting domain work. Even if you're not making these wages now, it doesn't mean you can't or won't. I want all of us to make bank. It gives us FIRE, financial mobility, ability to pursue bootstrapped startups, etc. Please don't normalize lower pay. It hurts us all.
- dr-detroit 5y ago
  northern VA cost of living is about 100x
kodah 5y ago
Being a SWE with even an implementor background in security is quite lucrative. Someone has to make all the crypto libraries that mathematicians come up with.

mikeyouse 5y ago

Not sure if UAE is the same but my friends who worked in Saudi paid $0 income tax (some token amount of US tax to avoid the gaze of the IRS) and had their house and car arranged by the company. So a $200k salary in SA was much more akin to a $350k salary in California in terms of the amount of money you’d save.

singlow 5y ago
If you are American you still pay us taxes, no matter where you live. And you may need to report the house and car as taxable income as well.
- aorth 5y ago
  > If you are American you still pay us taxes, no matter where you live. You have to file, yes, but you don't necessarily have to pay. For Federal taxes there is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. As long as you are outside of the US for at least 330 days in a year you can exclude up to $108,700 (for 2021) in foreign earnings. There are a few other scenarios too.
  - singlow 5y ago
    In this case you would pay. No FEIC if you don't pay taxes in the country where you earned the income. The UAE doesn't have a federal income tax and has no tax treaty with the US so several boxes are missing for FEIC.
    - tdfx 5y ago
      > No FEIC if you don't pay taxes in the country where you earned the income That's technically only true for one of the two possible tests for FEIE. The presence test doesn't require any taxes to be paid anywhere else, and the bona fide resident test only requires that your "tax home" is in a different country.

Taylor_OD 5y ago

I'm not 100% sure but for former NSA folks I think that is pretty great. I don't think the NSA pays all that well. At least not if you are used to fang salaries.