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A few years ago FAANG salaries in London were pretty weak, but they’re much better now and even within the startup ecosystem — traditionally much lower than FAA
by phphphphp 5y ago
A few years ago FAANG salaries in London were pretty weak, but they’re much better now and even within the startup ecosystem — traditionally much lower than FAANG salaries here — £90k is a reasonable base expectation and £100k at a minimum for FAANG (>150k TC is normal).
On £100k London is pretty affordable, so I’m curious, how much were you making in London and what do you consider to be a required salary to start a family here? London is very expensive but I’ve not heard the sentiment that FAANG salaries aren’t enough — would be helpful to learn more specifics of your view!
- colinmhayes 5y ago£150k is much, much less than non entry level FAANG engineers in the US are making.
- volkk 5y ago£150k is ~$196k base. I don't really see how that's much much less? My friend is an L6 at 220k base (with a shitload of equity). Definitely within the range.
- raphaelj 5y agoWorkers in UK also work less than their US counterparts (paid holidays, parental leave, sick days ...) [1]. Would make more sense to compare these countries by hourly income, not yearly. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_annual_labor_hours https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_a...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- jen20 5y agoMy (current) experience is that the London teams at my FAANG work no less than the US ones, and indeed often much later into the evenings to accommodate meetings. And everyone works fewer hours than those in finance.
- throwaway81348 5y agoBase is not that important especially at L6. How much stock is your friend getting?
- MrRiddle 5y ago150k after tax, pension and healthcare or before?
- dbetteridge 5y agoUK/Australia/NZ tend to talk about Base salary (excludes bonus/health care/before tax). Is that different elsewhere? Edited to note this is "Base" not "Total" Salary
- globular-toast 5y agoSalary in the UK means just the cash part of the package. Before tax, pension, healthcare, stock, bonuses and any other perks.
- gpderetta 5y agoAt least in UK, pension is usually on top of the quoted gross salary (Usually it is at least 10% more). But otherwise yes, the figure is before tax.
- phphphphp 5y agoAdjusting for benefits etc. it's not that different but my point is that £150k in London is a great salary on which someone can live very well, regardless of what you can earn in the US.
- asdadsdad 5y ago150k USD is around what you'll get with 2-3 years of non-FAANG experience in the US, so not that bad for London.
- randomopining 5y agoReally non fangs pay 150k? Where?
- tennis_sort 5y ago£100k London as a single person could definitely buy a flat somewhere. Maybe not a great area but it's doable. A house with a garden, kids, private school etc. 100k won't cut it unfortunately. For some reason I thought FAANGs in London were paid really well but seems like contracting or finance is the only way to get a reasonable income. I have a buddy who was working for a DeepMind and now works for Google (UK). His salary is £140k. Meanwhile day rates of £600 per day are pretty standard and pay the same for arguably less hassle.
- Balero 5y agoI agree with everything you said aside from: "For some reason I thought FAANGs in London were paid really well but seems like contracting or finance is the only way to get a reasonable income." Even in London £100k is above a reasonable income for one person. It's not enough to buy a house and provide for a family on one income and still have no worries, but expecting that is unreasonable. It's really easy to get stuck in a bubble where we forget that six figures is crazy out of the ordinary for an average person. But as to your main point. Yeah finance and contracting really is the right way to go to get a high income. Though I think this might be changing with the contracting as there were some recent changes that make contracting less efficient tax wise, and could push high performers to either ask for more, or just move to being an employee.
- onlyrealcuzzo 5y agoIt's really out of the ordinary when you're in the top 1% and can't afford a decent life - meanwhile lower middle class people who bought before QE (15 years ago) can afford a decent life. We shouldn't be lowering our "unreasonable" standards. If you're in the top 1% in income - you should have an complementary lifestyle. Not just be grateful that you're not in complete financial misery like everyone else your age.
- jltsiren 5y agoYou should pay more attention to household incomes than individual incomes, because housing is a per-household expense. Even if you are a high-income individual, you may still live in a mid-income household. In most large cities, being mid-income means you can afford to rent in most areas or buy in cheap areas.