Firmware comp in the Bay Area
Hi all, My current comp : 85k base ~5k RSU /yr ~4-5% profit sharing. 3 yoe What should I be expecting for a median comp in the bay for my experience in firmware ? Figured it’d be soon a good time to move as I am getting pretty jipped.
Firmware engineers are on an average paid a little lower than let's say people working on backend/frontend/full stack. I'd say 220-250 would be more realistic. But you definitely need competing offers. Can't go from your current base to that level without atleast 2-3 offers. Good luck!
Yeah I was expecting a 160k-200k TC to be more realistic for a level 2 firmware. Are you still talking about FANG level companies when you mention that 220-250k comp?
Yes I am. You should also look at all the autonomous startups. They're recruiting a ton of firmware engineers albeit the stock part of your TC will remain an uncertainty. But you could get in on the ground floor. Apple is one of the biggest recruiters of firmware engineers. With 3 yoe you could get something around 150k base and 200k+ stock. Again key here is competing offers. Without that you could end up being atleast 50k lower.
When you join Facebook ask them to hold the stock grant but keep your 4% profit sharing deal
Apple, Facebook, Google, Uber and Lyft are hiring firmware engineers !! You can expect 150k-ish base and at least another 100k in stock every year. Which puts you around 250-280k mark with cash bonuses.
Are firmware engineers payed less at these types of companies ? In general they are elsewhere.The comps you mentioned sound like pretty competitive compensations even for a normal software engineer.
No they are indeed less than software. A software engineer with 4/5 years of experience at FAANG would be looking at 350 and embedded/firmware roles would be on average 20% less