
I Know the Salaries of Thousands of Tech Employees - raldi
https://medium.com/s/powertrip/i-know-the-salaries-of-thousands-of-tech-employees-4841bc26d753
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geebee
I post this now and then when this topic comes up. I work for a public
university, and all salaries are public record. There's even a web app where
you can look things up.

The negative impact of this has been nearly zero, as far as I can tell. Just
hasn't done any harm at all. Now, state run universities are different from
private companies - compensation tends to be flatter, more predictable, and
has a heavier emphasis on seniority. Those traits might put a university at a
big disadvantage if it were a private company.

Though now that I think of it, top law firms tend to post salaries for first
year, second year, nth year associates. Again, it's all pretty predictable. Is
tech much less predictable than law firm associates?

I do think far too much in tech is done in secret. It's not just salaries -
I've interviewed at google, and supposedly there are scores in a database
about me somewhere, along with notes, but I'm not allowed to see them. In a
field plagued by accusations of bias, double secret interview tests seem like
a bad idea, as do double secret salary negotiations. Or maybe they're doing
exactly what they're meant to. Did Google discriminate against "over 40"
applicants, as claimed by a large class action lawsuit? How would I know, the
process is far too opaque for me to have any idea at all.

I have an idea - any company that uses the H1B visa must make all compensation
information public (not just the H1B applications, but name, title, and
compensation for all employees, the way state institutions are required to). I
think this is reasonable to ask of companies making decisions bout who is and
isn't allowed to work and live in the US, especially if they're claiming that
they can't recruit and retain adequate talent from the existing workforce in
spite of high salaries and excellent benefits.

~~~
wahern
> Is tech much less predictable than law firm associates?

Yes, significantly so. In tech compensation numbers are all over the board.
Someone making $50k might be working alongside someone with the same title
making $150k.

Both government and law are very bad examples. Government because compensation
tiers are quite strict; law because the labor market heavily favors employers,
compounded by a culture that expects you to work for peanuts early in your
career and tirelessly climb the ladder to partner.

~~~
geebee
I wouldn't say first year associates at big firms work for peanuts. In New
York, at elite firms, starting salaries for 1st year associates is closing in
on 200k. It's competitive, of course, they do work long hours under stressful
conditions for that pay, and NY is an expensive city.

But the question remains - how are tech workers well served by the secrecy
around salary? Why should we protect a company from the consequences of
informing its workers that one developer makes half of what another makes?
Especially if this company is lobbying government to do something about the
critical shortage of software developers (and that something, surprise
surprise, involves handing massive amount of government sponsored power - the
right to decide who is allowed to live and work in the us - over to that
company's HR department).

First things first, let's get transparency.

