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0 pointsdclowd99017y ago0 comments

Don’t shame people for making more money than others. The idea of this is we all see what we make. The outliers are making what we should all make.

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scarface747y ago

It's not about shaming people. HN is full of West Coast FAANG SV employees who are outliers. It's easy for people to feel that their perfectly normal salaries are low.

sidlls7y ago

I'm not FAANG, but I am in SV, and my salary is currently around $200k/year (give or take). That's low compared to FAANG, but it's much higher, even adjusting for COL, than most of the "perfectly normal" lower salaries in these comments. That's not good: those lower salaries should be considered abnormally low; mine should be considered on the high end of average, maybe. Most software development (where software is the product, or a critical component of the product) is a high margin endeavor. These companies can (and should) pay their development staff more.

scarface747y ago

That's low compared to FAANG, but it's much higher, even adjusting for COL, than most of the "perfectly normal" lower salaries in these comments. That's not good: those lower salaries should be considered abnormally low; mine should be considered on the high end of average

These are the "average" salaries across the industry in different metro areas:

https://www.matrixres.com/salary-surveys

As far as $200K being high adjusted for COLA, in the burbs where I live. $330K gets you a house - brand new build in a top rated school system with five bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3000 square feet with a yard, two car garage, and a separate nice size office. What does that get you in SV?

Anyone making at least $110K can buy that house with an FHA loan with 3.5% down.

What a company is going to pay is based on the supply and demand.

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lbotos7y ago

Should they just pay development more, or all employees of the company?

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tathougies7y ago

> it's easy for people to feel that their perfectly normal salaries are low.

Part of a free market is realizing that, if others are earning more money for the same work, there is a good chance that you are undercharging your employer for your services.

lbotos7y ago

Do you agree that this stance ignores the idea of local economies factoring into why dollars are not valued the same everywhere?

Most companies I've known charge what they would consider "base rate" + some kind of Cost of Living multiplier. See Buffer's example: https://buffer.com/salary/staff-engineer-web/average

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xapata7y ago

On the positive side, if we all feel like our salaries are low, we'll collectively ask for more money. Don't be jealous, but do ask for a raise.

scarface747y ago

Outside of Silicon Valley/NYC/DC, no one is going to pay your "full stack web developer", 200K. Full stack developers are a dime a dozen and you can outsource your typical CRUD Software As A Service app overseas or "rural source" it to Middle America.

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scarface747y ago

It's not about shaming people. HN is full of West Coast FAANG SV employees who are outliers. It's easy for people to feel that their perfectly normal salaries are low.

sidlls7y ago

scarface747y ago

These are the "average" salaries across the industry in different metro areas:

https://www.matrixres.com/salary-surveys

Anyone making at least $110K can buy that house with an FHA loan with 3.5% down.

What a company is going to pay is based on the supply and demand.

2 more replies

lbotos7y ago

Should they just pay development more, or all employees of the company?

1 more reply

tathougies7y ago

> it's easy for people to feel that their perfectly normal salaries are low.

Part of a free market is realizing that, if others are earning more money for the same work, there is a good chance that you are undercharging your employer for your services.

lbotos7y ago

Do you agree that this stance ignores the idea of local economies factoring into why dollars are not valued the same everywhere?

Most companies I've known charge what they would consider "base rate" + some kind of Cost of Living multiplier. See Buffer's example: https://buffer.com/salary/staff-engineer-web/average

1 more reply

xapata7y ago

On the positive side, if we all feel like our salaries are low, we'll collectively ask for more money. Don't be jealous, but do ask for a raise.

scarface747y ago

2 more replies

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