I don’t know if this is has evidence in data but is the income distribution for SWEs becoming increasingly bimodal? A range for individuals outside of elite tech companies and a range for individuals within it who have reaped the rewards of appreciating tech stock?
If anything, I'm seeing the opposite: non-"elite" tech pay is increasing to rival "elite" tech pay (since that's the only way you can hire a decent engineer in any of the major tech hubs in the US).
> If anything, I'm seeing the opposite: non-"elite" tech pay is increasing to rival "elite" tech pay (since that's the only way you can hire a decent engineer in any of the major tech hubs in the US).
I'm seeing the same in the Central Florida area. Postings open for months, the pay scale slowly increasing at the same time. I've even worked with recruiters to help drag those salaries up, explaining how to go back to their clients and explain their expectations are unrealistic. A rising tide lifts all boats.
At least in the Valley, this is very much not true. Very few companies are willing to match the compensation from the tech giants. I work for a non-Amazon FAANG and I'll be surprised if a company was willing to match almost $300k of unvested stock (after 1 review cycle & 1 year of vesting), a healthy salary on top of my existing one, and comparable annual refresh grants - only companies I see really doing so would be another FAANG and VC firms.
