Engineering database Levels.fyi recently released its 2020 software engineer salary report, which includes salary, stock, and bonuses. Most of the data comes from Silicon Valley, home to some of the top tech companies, such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon. The Bay Area also has the highest pay in engineering.

Among entry-level engineers (0-2 years of experience), the highest paid company is Lyft, with an average salary of $230,000, according to the report. ROBLOX ranks second with an average salary of more than $220,000. Stripe, Airbnb tied for third with an average salary of more than $210,000.

As you can see, even entry-level engineers can earn just over $200,000 a year. Mid-level engineers with two years of work experience or a PhD earn nearly 300,000 yuan a year. As for senior engineers, they usually have five or more years of experience, and they are already in the highest ranks in the average company, earning up to 450,000 yuan a year. Further up the ladder are engineers in charge, who need at least 10 years of experience to reach this level and earn as much as 600,000 yuan a year.

Bytedance is the only non-US company on the list

The only non-U.S. company to appear on the list is Beijing-based Bytedance, but based on the salaries it gives, it’s supposed to be Bytedance’s North American revenue, not its domestic revenue.

Income from 2-5+ years of work:

Job 5+ Annual income:

According to the post, Bybyte in North America has a heavy relationship with China, so it is impossible to achieve WLB (Work Life Balance). It is common to Work until dawn every day, and often cannot take a full rest on weekends. 70+ hours per week is no exaggeration.

One of the hottest jobs: programmer

Although the income of programmers may be limited by region or company and the work intensity is not low, the starting salary of software engineers is generally very good compared with other industries, both at home and abroad.

As technology advances more rapidly and dominates our daily lives in many ways, the need for programmers is increasing. However, it is not necessary to be a computer science graduate to become a programmer, as long as they can teach themselves programming or learn related skills in different ways.

Levels.fyi said hiring took a sharp turn for the worse in March due to COVID-19, but a steady recovery has been seen. While many have lost their jobs, pay has held steady and even continued to rise. Several companies have made telecommuting permanent or moved their headquarters.

Fyi predicts that this trend will continue. The rise of remoteness has expanded the pool of talent companies can reach and given candidates access to more companies. 2020 will have a longer term impact on pay — exactly what it will look like is yet to be determined. Many compensation professionals themselves struggle with how to adjust.

Behind the high salary

Everyone admires the high salary and promotion opportunities of programmers. Behind the high salary lies the cost of working overtime and staying up late.

The massive anti-996 movement in previous years has been gradually submerged in the clamour of the China-us trade war and COVID-19. “996 is a blessing for us.” “Jingdong will never force its employees to work at 995 or 996, but everyone at jingdong must have a fighting spirit.” When it comes to the 996 work schedule and overtime culture, the diction, technique and discourse system of Internet leaders are so consistent. The East Asian work ethic, which emphasizes obedience, dedication and struggle, is consistent.

At the same time, in today’s increasingly “introverted”, it is more and more difficult to rise, but the interview is more and more difficult. In baidu’s demand map, the word “introverted” has a strong correlation with migrant workers, Malthusian trap, prisoner’s dilemma, 996 and so on.

Data shows that the average annual salary of Internet talents in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou ranks among the top four in China, each exceeding 230,000 yuan, far exceeding the average income of most industries in China. The average hourly wage for programmers is well above the social average, even taking into account their long working hours.

Although this reason does not weaken the rationality of programmers’ protest, farmers, manual laborers and even ordinary white-collar workers are not in a better position in an environment where the protection of laborers’ rights and interests is generally lacking and labor relations are systematically biased in favor of employers in China.

However, the problem doesn’t seem to be fixed any time soon.