In NY, at least for a developer Google and Facebook have to compete against banks and hedge funds for talent. In my experience, Google can pretty well go toe-t

In NY, at least for a developer Google and Facebook have to compete against banks and hedge funds for talent. In my experience, Google can pretty well go toe-to-toe with them if they desire. So that finance offers higher compensation, means Google also has to offer higher compensation. Now some speculation, if Google is offering higher compensation than they otherwise would, so will other companies competing for the same talent. Even if you only think they are fiercely competing at the high-end of the market, I would believe there is some trickle down to the mid-range, which when then also go down to the lower end.