4 ms·

Maybe, but consider this: when you join a company like Google, you get a top-of-industry offer, for sure, but they often low-ball you regardless, relatively spe

Maybe, but consider this: when you join a company like Google, you get a top-of-industry offer, for sure, but they often low-ball you regardless, relatively speaking. The recruiter justifies it with perks like this (free meals! free gym! snacks! swag! off-sites! whatever). Then the pandemic hits and all that stops, but most of us understand. The stock however, explodes, and the executives go from 10- to 11-digit wealth. Then we come back to the office, at Their behest, and the second the stock (and THEIR compensation) starts to droop, they instantly cut everything. Likely not many SWEs at Google are struggling for food; but wouldn't you be at least a little pissed off?

scarface74 4y ago
Alternate take: by the time BigTech salaries had gotten so out of whack from none BigTech salaries that the cost of living differences between moving to the west coast made sense, I already was in my mid 30s, newly married with the big house in the burbs with two (step)sons and it just wasn’t appealing to me. By the time my youngest graduated in 2020 and I again had the opportunity and willing spouse to get a job at BigTech as a software developer and move across the country, I still wasn’t interested. I kept talking to the recruiter and she suggested another software engineering adjacent job that ended up paying 20% less, but was permanently remote, I jumped at. I have an entire room in my own house dedicated to cardio equipment and weights and my wife has another room dedicated to her dance studio and workout area. Why would I care about a “free gym” and “free food”? I don’t need “free laundry service”, the only time I dress in anything approaching business casual is when they fly me out to a customer site or a team meeting.
- unity1001 4y ago
  > BigTech salaries had gotten so out of whack They didn't. No one's salary ever has gotten out of whack, ever: It is estimated that those who take the most share out of the economic value that they generate are upper-level tech employees. And even them take only up to 10% of the actual economic value they generate. Which means that the rest of the population get much less. The system is atrocious. So no. Big tech salaries haven't gotten out of whack. No employee was ever able to get a noticeable share of the economic value that they generate, and those who get most get at most 10%.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    Before 2010, once you take into account cost of living, the compensation difference between moving to the west coast and living in almost any other major city as a software developer, wasn’t worth it. After around 2012 as the economy was coming out of the recession, VC money started flowing and computers (smart phones) got more ubiquitous, BigTech compensation really started diverging from being a regular old enterprise corp dev even after taking cost of living into account. I’m not complaining. I make a comfortable living working for $BigTech doing the same type of enterprise architect work I did three years ago just by knowing “cloud” and having soft skills.

scarface74 4y ago

Alternate take: by the time BigTech salaries had gotten so out of whack from none BigTech salaries that the cost of living differences between moving to the west coast made sense, I already was in my mid 30s, newly married with the big house in the burbs with two (step)sons and it just wasn’t appealing to me. By the time my youngest graduated in 2020 and I again had the opportunity and willing spouse to get a job at BigTech as a software developer and move across the country, I still wasn’t interested. I kept talking to the recruiter and she suggested another software engineering adjacent job that ended up paying 20% less, but was permanently remote, I jumped at. I have an entire room in my own house dedicated to cardio equipment and weights and my wife has another room dedicated to her dance studio and workout area. Why would I care about a “free gym” and “free food”? I don’t need “free laundry service”, the only time I dress in anything approaching business casual is when they fly me out to a customer site or a team meeting.

unity1001 4y ago
> BigTech salaries had gotten so out of whack They didn't. No one's salary ever has gotten out of whack, ever: It is estimated that those who take the most share out of the economic value that they generate are upper-level tech employees. And even them take only up to 10% of the actual economic value they generate. Which means that the rest of the population get much less. The system is atrocious. So no. Big tech salaries haven't gotten out of whack. No employee was ever able to get a noticeable share of the economic value that they generate, and those who get most get at most 10%.
- scarface74 4y ago
  Before 2010, once you take into account cost of living, the compensation difference between moving to the west coast and living in almost any other major city as a software developer, wasn’t worth it. After around 2012 as the economy was coming out of the recession, VC money started flowing and computers (smart phones) got more ubiquitous, BigTech compensation really started diverging from being a regular old enterprise corp dev even after taking cost of living into account. I’m not complaining. I make a comfortable living working for $BigTech doing the same type of enterprise architect work I did three years ago just by knowing “cloud” and having soft skills.