According to the most recent Dice Salary Survey, the average tech pro made $93,244 in 2018, a very slight 0.6 percent increase from the year before. For many Americans, that’s a lot of money—but many tech pros don’t consider their annual pay nearly enough. That could make things much more complicated for recruiters and hiring managers who are already wrestling with less-than-ideal budgets for talent.
Blind recently asked its pool of anonymous tech pros to answer “True” or “False” to the following statement: “I am paid far less than the value I create.”
A slight majority (55.8 percent) responded with “True,” that they were paid less than their value. The answer also varied by company: Some 60.68 percent of employees at Uber, 60.53 percent of employees at LinkedIn, and 59.09 percent of employees at Intel all thought they provided value above and beyond their take-home pay.
On the flip side of the equation, only 31 percent of respondents who worked at Facebook thought they were underpaid relative to their value; some 44.64 percent of eBay employees thought the same. Check out the full list:
Some interesting points here: Unlike some other Blind surveys, in which there are significant percentage swings between the “top” and “bottom” companies on a list, the companies here are in a pretty tight cluster—across the tech industry, it seems that roughly half of all tech pros think they’re paid appropriately for what they contribute.
Also consider that, because the responses to Blind’s surveys are anonymous, it’s impossible to determine if the respondents actually work for these companies. In light of that, perhaps it’s best to take the individual company results with the proverbial grain of salt; however, we can assume that the overall sentiment about pay and value is correct.
For recruiters and hiring managers, the message is pretty clear: Tech pros know they have the necessary skills, they know that the tech industry is enjoying low unemployment, and they expect what they see as appropriate compensation.
Tech pros with highly specialized skills may also demand a premium atop a “standard” paycheck. For example, those tech pros skilled in artificial intelligence (A.I.) and machine learning often enjoy six-figure salaries (and generous perks in addition to high pay). Those tech pros who feel like their careers have stagnated often consider changing things up by taking a few classes or pursuing a new avenue of learning.
In any case, companies need to realize that tech pros will continue to command top dollar—and that will put huge pressure on corporate budgets for the foreseeable future.
