[bradleyjg]

Top tech talent, even in software, weren’t making the kind of money they are today. Top new grads going to the hottest employers could hope to make $50,000 all in (not counting stock options paying off down the road). $100,000 in guaranteed comp was all but unheard of for ICs. Programming was not yet at the doctor/lawyer level, much less the banker one.

That started to change in the dotcom frenzy but that was still a couple of years away at that point.

[dboreham]

It started to change when the salary cartel was busted.

[dougabug]

I wonder to what extent the private “no poaching agreements” between major tech companies held down SW Engineer compensation.

[icedchai]

Yep, my first year out of college (1998) I was making 50K at a local public tech company. Anyone in tech would laugh at that nowadays, but that was considered a "good" starting salary.

[harryh]

When I started at Microsoft in 2000 I believe my initial salary was 62k just as another reference plus some stock options (honestly I can't remember the details of that part). This was a very good comp package for a new college grad.

[throwaway123467]

> Anyone in tech would laugh at that nowadays

There was a reset between then and now: The Great Recession around 2008. Starting salaries were below 50K, and I was really surprised when a few years later I got an offer at that amount (also right out of college) - I remember looking around for what to expect, and it was more like 35K.