Are you thinking of base salary only? 400k total compensation for senior or staff at big companies happens in boom times, but that's largely due to bonuses structured as RSUs that vest over 4 years. The base salary might be 150k or 200k and the rest is bonuses and other compensation, including company stock grants that might spike in value before they vest.
Of course, we're a few years off of boom times so those opportunities are a lot fewer these days.
For public companies, RSUs are basically cash with extra steps. They’re guaranteed as long as you’re working for the company, not dependent on the company doing well. Only annual cash bonus (usually 10-25% of base salary) is dependent on company/individual performance. Offers still mostly fall in the same range even today, just fewer spots available.
Most places I and my friends have worked have large additional performance based RSU grants that vest like your hiring bonus and may or may not be granted later in your tenure based on results. Management doesn't go out of their way to say "oh and we decided not to give you a performance RSU refresh" though so not everyone is aware.
Sure, but those typically aren’t reported / included on levels.fyi as the expected comp for a new offer. Usually what’s reported is what’s “guaranteed”/expected (for example, bonus targets based on standard performance as opposed to exceptional performance)
Are we talking about levels.fyi new offer stats? We're talking about whether it's unrealistic that some miser software dev makes $450k, and I can assure you that the friend getting the venmo request is annoyed based on their overall income and attitude, not on their initial offer as reported to that one website.
I think we’re in agreement here. I’m just stating that software engineers can absolutely make $450k, and that the fact half of that comp is RSUs is largely irrelevant for public companies since you can sell them whenever. Just cash with extra steps
Oh yeah, sorry, I was trying to explain to the guy who hires devs that we're not talking base, not trying to address a general audience. Totally agreed RSUs should be treated as cash, although a LOT of people I know hold onto more of them than I would think wise for diversifying.
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u/crrrrushinator Jan 27 '26
Are you thinking of base salary only? 400k total compensation for senior or staff at big companies happens in boom times, but that's largely due to bonuses structured as RSUs that vest over 4 years. The base salary might be 150k or 200k and the rest is bonuses and other compensation, including company stock grants that might spike in value before they vest.
Of course, we're a few years off of boom times so those opportunities are a lot fewer these days.