[matthew9219]

In Seattle, my girlfriend made $65k last year cutting hair for dogs. She has a college degree, but no PhD, but doesn't use the college degree.

I made $350k. I have a college degree in computer science, but no PhD.

Why would any top talent take a job at 50k?

[coastermug]

UK vs USA. You’re not wrong at all though. It’s also very interesting the lack of salary transparency that exists in the Uk. If you don’t poke your head around London, you can be blissfully unaware of the salaries that are available in Finance and broader tech scene in London. Given that many great UK universities exist outside of London, there will be PHDs who are unaware or don’t care about what they could be earning.

[nonethewiser]

> UK vs USA

That's the point though

[robotnikman]

Just curious, what tech position pays $350K? I make much less than that right now as a software engineer, though at a non FAANG company and in an area with low cost of living. If I could find a position that pays that much I'd happily jump ship.

[matthew9219]

I'm a 10 year engineer at a FAANG. My promotion velocity is probably about average, maybe a bit above average, but not exceptional.

[DaiPlusPlus]

Are you an IC, Lead, or in some kind of engineering-management role?

I'm also in the Seattle area, with just-over 10 years' full-time experience and started my career at a FAANG and everyone in my orbit (with similar education, roles and experience) is around 150-180, I don't personally know anyone who has admitted TC over $200k.

I'm not skeptical of your claim, but just sharing my experience.

(Yes, Levels.fyi makes me feel insecure about my career accomplishments, but at the same time I don't interview well...)

[fatnoah]

I'm in exec role at a 100-200 person east coast startup with significant YOE (both as IC and as an exec). My own comp, including bonus, is close to $300k. Most of our SWE roles are in the range of $165-200k salary & bonus, plus equity. It's been a very rare occurrence to have an offer turned down because of money.

I came from larger companies (including a FAANG), and compensation there (salary, bonus, and RSUs) ranged from 1.5-3x my current compensation. Most of the people on my teams were in the $250k-300k range, with a few others at least doubling that. Some amount of that was driven by stock appreciation in a bull market.

The money's definitely out there, especially at higher levels in public companies.

[DaiPlusPlus]

> The money's definitely out there

Right, I'm not denying that - it's just that Levels.fyi puts numbers that high at 90% percentile TC, the industry median is still significantly lower.

[matthew9219]

I'm an IC. In Google terms, I was recently promoted to L6.

[geodel]

> Why would any top talent take a job at 50k?

If thats only thing available people will surely take it. Its like asking why would I buy million dollar condo in SFO when I can buy 100K house in Mississippi.

Not everything is available everywhere.

[Karawebnetwork]

Having taken a job at roughly that paycheck previously, I can tell you exactly why: my rent at the time in that area was $700 a month for a 4 bedrooms apartment.

[ChuckNorris89]

>In Seattle, my girlfriend made $65k last year cutting hair for dogs.

Because the US pays much, much more for the same jobs, than what the EU or UK pay.

[rhuru]

Free healthcare ! :)

[lowbloodsugar]

Because they are unwilling to emigrate to the USA.

[questime]

Anecdotal but I feel like Brits are really big on emigrating or atleast working abroad. There are a ton in the US, Germany, UAE, Australia etc. And they tend to do very well outside the UK.

[lowbloodsugar]

Indeed. Most of my friends no longer live in the UK. Even "average" friends from high school live abroad. I don't understand why people stay. What happens to a country when all those people leave? All those people with a mind that is capable of seeing a better future and acting on it? Who does that leave? Bunch of people who wave tiny flags and cheer a monarchy.

[eigenket]

Its not exactly the same situation but I'm from the UK and live in Poland (because I'm a scientist and brexit happened). An enormous number of Polish people left to work all over Europe and the world since the end of communism, and I think its mostly been a massively good thing for Poland.

Most of the Polish people I know who lived abroad and have moved back to Poland have brought skills, often highly educated children, relatively large amounts of money, and what I would describe as an international forward thinking attitude (i.e. they aren't voting for PiS).

Its not inevitable that a lot of young people from the UK moving abroad is a bad thing for the UK, as eventually a bunch of them are going to come back.

That said all the flag waving bullshit I see the UK doing does put me off returning.

[troad]

They are, the US is just insanely strict with skilled migration.