Do software engineering managers make more than software engineers? - jamesmad9
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bsvalley
Here is a ratio for you (from personal experience). Yes, about 70% of the
time. No, about 30% of the time. I am referring to annual base salary
exclusively. When it comes to full package, the ratio looks more like 50/50.

Most likely, a manager will have a higher annual base salary versus lower
RSU/stock grant. Again, this is not true all the time but RSU's are used in
order to retain talents. Managers are very replaceable compared to experienced
engineers. If you're easily replaceable but you have a lot more pressure, your
annual salary will most likely be high and your RSU's will be good, not
amazing.

When it comes to annual bonuses, managers win by far... I'd say it's a 80% to
20% ratio.

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PinballWizard
I think this varies wildly. I know if a few Rockstar managers that get paid
higher than their individual contributors. If they have a proven track record
of getting their team to perform and ship product.

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bsvalley
Sure, which is why I used a ratio to describe the difference. There are indeed
a lot of managers who make a lot more than their direct reports. It is not
always true. Base salaries would most likely have a higher cap than IC’s,
stock grants are based on how replaceable you are within the organisation,
then annual bonuses are usually based on the company annual results, your
business impact (and a percentage of your base salary) which is why managers
usually get higher bonuses. I agree it varies a lot since not all companies
offer RSU’s, annual bonuses, etc.

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telltruth
At FANGMA, yes - almost always. Managers typically has level either equal to
or more than employee they manage. In addition, managers gets to make
recommendations for bonuses for their directs. This by default make them at
least as much paid as their directs. In a weird scenario it may be possible
that manager gets dinged while he/she recommends better bonus for same leveled
direct. However this is very rare because typically manager gets to claim at
least partial credit for his/her direct and of course they are the ones with
direct lines to higher up.

On a side note, this is a bad thing for industry because it makes lot of great
ICs forced in to management.

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matt_s
A manager has hiring, firing and often budget responsibilities. Also over-
looked other HR responsibilities like ensuring policies are being followed
which are usually there because there are laws the company has to comply with,
like sexual harassment. There is more risk to the larger company if a manager
acts unethically or worse, illegally, with these responsibilities.

Given that a legal/ethical issue can potentially cost a company a lot of
money, a good manager should be paid more in addition to other actual area of
expertise responsibilities they have.

If they are more of a supervisor or team lead, literally managing workloads of
people without the budget or hiring/firing HR responsibilities then maybe one
could argue they may not necessarily make more than other Software Engineers.

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bdavis_
No. Most cases, the first level engineering manager will make less than some
of those being managed. One cause is experience, years, and wage growth.
Another cause is high salaries for software engineers relative to the rest of
the company.

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Oppertunity123
Depends on company, experience etc. Where I am, no they don't and am glad they
don't (I am a engineering manager).

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scalesolved
From my experience an engineering manager in most organisations is considered
a direct promotion from a senior or lead engineer. Compensation tends to
follow this and thus I'd warrant in 90% plus of cases engineering managers
make more than the engineers.

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sloaken
Usually but not always. Somtimes the manager is not technical, in which case
they might be paid less (think Business Admin degree). Or you might have a
superstar who needs to be paid well, but still needs to be managed.

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GFischer
Depends on the country as well. Here in Uruguay, 99% of the time they do, and
usually several multiples of what their reports make.

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dv_dt
Another related question might be how taking a manager vs engineer position
may ease to access to future positions and earning levels.

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dominotw
Yes

