Ask HN: Are tech salaries high compared to a decade ago? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Are tech salaries high compared to a decade ago?

1 pointitsmefaz4 comments

I've always heard this argument that engineers now are earning more than ever before and whatnot..

However, I was having this conversation with a senior manager of mine and he revealed the salary he was making he was around my experience. And it is almost similar to what I'm making now.. (I understand that the sample size is very low, some data around this would be really helpful)

How is this argument even right that back then people were earning less, when the correct argument should be that engineering salaries haven't increased that much from a decade ago?

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Don't forget to factor in inflation. I have heard what someone was making 25 years ago in a help desk type role. It sounded low, but adjusting for inflation showed they were making just as much as I was as an intermediate developer with more responsibilities. They also had more profit sharing than I do now.

I've been at my current job for a little less than a decade. I can say that my pay is pretty similar to when I started if you account for inflation, 1 promotion, and the slight tenure-based increase in profit sharing. Looking at glassdoor's salary estimator, I seem to be priced correctly.

This suggests that salaries might be roughly the same as a decade ago and that salaries may have gone down in the longer term. These are just anecdotal. I seem to remember the longterm trend was covered in an article. I have also heard that you need to job hop to really increase your compensation.

That's a complicated question because the answer is both location-dependent and requires a comparative analysis. In places like SF, big tech salaries have grown substantially (along with the cost of living) since 2010, while in other locations they haven't grown all that much and in not-big tech the increases haven't been that large. For example, a new hire at Google today can expect a comp package of at least $160K, while in 2010 I seem to remember it being around $120K.

The bigger issue more broadly is that generally speaking, tech salaries have been growing steadily over the last decade while non-tech salaries have been mostly stagnant, so it often seems like tech workers make a huge amount now when effectively a lot of other people just aren't making as much as they should.

That depends. Around Y2K, people in infosec made boatloads of money. It could be argued that we still do, but the money isn't anywhere as free-flowing as it was back then.

I keep seeing security gigs offering half of what was on offer for the same positions back then. Although I think a lot of it has to do with how much better automated software has become. You don't need anywhere near the level of skill that was required during infosec genesis. Now everybody thinks they are experts after they've read a book and downloaded metasploit.

probably depends alot on the technology/language.

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