How is it possible for Microsoft to pay so much less than its competitors?
Sep 14, 2020
48 Comments
I am currently the lowest eng level (SWE) at LinkedIn. According to levels.fyi, this maps to Microsoft’s L59/L60.
My TC is 300K with 3 YOE. Again, according to levels.fyi, this is as much as Microsoft’s Principal SDEs (L65) make with 20+ YOE.
My first question is: How is this possible? How can Microsoft pay so much less than other top tech companies? Do they just hire worse engineers? Does Washington state tax/CoL make that much of a difference?
My second question is: What does this mean? Is this proof that it’s possible to build a trillion dollar tech company with mediocre engineers? Is this because of Microsoft’s anticompetitive practices? Will their salaries eventually catch up, or will their competitors’ salaries drop?
comments
Msft: Windows, VS, vscode, edge, bing, App Store, WPF, UWP, Xamarin, .NET platforms/languages, ...
LinkedIn: Fb status feed + job board + Lynda.com
Like if it’s me, I’m saying the former category deserves a lot more comp than the latter. 🤷♀️
Take a look at levels.fyi. Entry SWE at LinkedIn is a bit higher than senior at MS