Worth noting also that a lot of the more specialized roles that someone like Intel or the few other HW companies need is increasingly specialized, meaning MS a

Worth noting also that a lot of the more specialized roles that someone like Intel or the few other HW companies need is increasingly specialized, meaning MS and PhD. That makes it all the more frustrating to encounter these salary disparities others have described. Part of what's happening here may also relate to the fact that EE PhDs are dominated by international students (70-80%), compared to ~10% in CS undergrad. That gives companies a lot of negotiating power to drag down the average salary.