3 ms·

Amazon used to have an internal Slack channel that allowed employees to share their total compensations anonymously. Thousands of people shared and the numbers

Amazon used to have an internal Slack channel that allowed employees to share their total compensations anonymously. Thousands of people shared and the numbers were eye opening. Basically, if one was not a star and got consistently promoted every two or three years, she would not get compensated at market price. As a result, an L6 who stayed in the company for years often got lower total compensation than an L5 new hire who was actually an L4 before jumping to Amazon. Note: No L7 or above shared, or so as I knew. That said, like any large company, resources tend to concentrate to the top. L8 and plus were still compensated really well, but L7 were so so because L8 became the new L7 after waves of rapid promotions inside Amazon.

BobbyTables2 2y ago
Exactly. I find companies celebrating 20-30 years of seniority to be very darkly humorous…
pixelatedindex 2y ago
I can relate to this. I was hired as an L4, got a promotion after 3 years to an L5. I later found out that my L5 TC was high-mid band for new L4s. To rub salt into the wound, I had to have “consistent” L5 level output (translates to about a year) before I could even apply for promotion and compensation only kicked in at the next review cycle. The ~13% salary bump was retroactively granted but RSUs were not, which was upsetting. Why try to get promoted?
- hintymad 2y ago
  On a personal level, promotion always means I have more freedom to do more interesting stuff (and lose freedom to some other stuff too, so there is a balance). Impact and validation of my ability are some other factors, though not that important. Now about the monetary side: the purpose of getting promoted is to get to a high enough level. Say L7 in Amazon. Since resources disproportionally concentrate to the top, L7+ got handsomely paid, especially when you are a top performer in that band.
  - pixelatedindex 2y ago
    > On a personal level, promotion always means I have more freedom to do more interesting stuff (and lose freedom to some other stuff too, so there is a balance). In my role I didn’t have the freedom and the opportunity because we were a small team as part of a sub-org - not much scope for multi-team impact. I have influenced some product roadmaps but for minor changes. Should I be hunting for chances that have more meat and convince others to see things my way?
VirusNewbie 2y ago
This is true at Google too, because you get a large four year grant, while people who have been there are getting smaller refresher grants staggered. I am making more this year than managers one level higher than me because of stock increases, and the way my stock vests.
fire_lake 2y ago
Any resources on these levels? Never worked for a FAANG so curious where I would sit.
- zelos 2y ago
  https://www.levels.fyi/ https://www.levels.fyi/ . I don't know how accurate their data is, though.
  - fire_lake 2y ago
    I mean experience wise, not TC. Like “how do my skills compare to a Google L7?”
    - qwe----3 2y ago
      Search LinkedIn for senior staff engineers at google
    - VirusNewbie 2y ago
      what do you want to know? (not L7 though). Mostly the level determines scope: L3 can work on a feature or part of a feature. L4 can own a large feature. L5 owns a project. L6 owns a large project or something that affects multiple projects. L7 is working across multiple teams to improve many teams projects. However, a project at rando big company might be very different than a project at a FAANG, so even these terms are incredibly nebulous. Generally, most FAANGs are very snobby in that even if you pass the interviews, if you don't come from another FAANG type company you get down leveled. I know multiple people this happened to( Interviewed for L7 EM, offer L6 EM. Interviewed for L6 SWE, offer at L5 SWE). Age and experience matter less though. I know L5s who are 29, and L5s who are in their late 50s. So if you interview for L6, unless you nail every part of every interview, expect L5. Same with L7, L4, etc.

BobbyTables2 2y ago

Exactly. I find companies celebrating 20-30 years of seniority to be very darkly humorous…

pixelatedindex 2y ago

I can relate to this. I was hired as an L4, got a promotion after 3 years to an L5. I later found out that my L5 TC was high-mid band for new L4s. To rub salt into the wound, I had to have “consistent” L5 level output (translates to about a year) before I could even apply for promotion and compensation only kicked in at the next review cycle. The ~13% salary bump was retroactively granted but RSUs were not, which was upsetting. Why try to get promoted?

hintymad 2y ago
On a personal level, promotion always means I have more freedom to do more interesting stuff (and lose freedom to some other stuff too, so there is a balance). Impact and validation of my ability are some other factors, though not that important. Now about the monetary side: the purpose of getting promoted is to get to a high enough level. Say L7 in Amazon. Since resources disproportionally concentrate to the top, L7+ got handsomely paid, especially when you are a top performer in that band.
- pixelatedindex 2y ago
  > On a personal level, promotion always means I have more freedom to do more interesting stuff (and lose freedom to some other stuff too, so there is a balance). In my role I didn’t have the freedom and the opportunity because we were a small team as part of a sub-org - not much scope for multi-team impact. I have influenced some product roadmaps but for minor changes. Should I be hunting for chances that have more meat and convince others to see things my way?

VirusNewbie 2y ago

This is true at Google too, because you get a large four year grant, while people who have been there are getting smaller refresher grants staggered. I am making more this year than managers one level higher than me because of stock increases, and the way my stock vests.

fire_lake 2y ago

Any resources on these levels? Never worked for a FAANG so curious where I would sit.

zelos 2y ago
https://www.levels.fyi/ https://www.levels.fyi/ . I don't know how accurate their data is, though.
- fire_lake 2y ago
  I mean experience wise, not TC. Like “how do my skills compare to a Google L7?”
  - qwe----3 2y ago
    Search LinkedIn for senior staff engineers at google
  - VirusNewbie 2y ago
    what do you want to know? (not L7 though). Mostly the level determines scope: L3 can work on a feature or part of a feature. L4 can own a large feature. L5 owns a project. L6 owns a large project or something that affects multiple projects. L7 is working across multiple teams to improve many teams projects. However, a project at rando big company might be very different than a project at a FAANG, so even these terms are incredibly nebulous. Generally, most FAANGs are very snobby in that even if you pass the interviews, if you don't come from another FAANG type company you get down leveled. I know multiple people this happened to( Interviewed for L7 EM, offer L6 EM. Interviewed for L6 SWE, offer at L5 SWE). Age and experience matter less though. I know L5s who are 29, and L5s who are in their late 50s. So if you interview for L6, unless you nail every part of every interview, expect L5. Same with L7, L4, etc.