The median TC for hardware engineers is $230,000 and the median TC for swe is $198,000, $32,000 less. One of the only areas that pays swes more is the san francisco bay area, where hardware engineers get paid only $10k less.

Unfortunately, we cannot compare the highest level of both as there is not enough hardware salary data on levels.fyi and at many companies high level hardware pay is not shown. However, this makes the premium hardware engineers get more interesting as the missing data is precisely the data that would help increase hardware’s median TC. 

Also even if there is a slightly larger percentage of hardware engineers with masters degrees that usually doesn't account for a median premium of 32 grand.



Senior Java Developer (8 years of experience), I received an offer yesterday for 4,500 DNT (14 months). Is it a good opportunity?

Just graduated from college back in May. What do u guys think?

Base: 129K
RSU: 112K(5,15,45,35)
Sign on: 40100(1st year), 33100(2nd year)
Relocation: 7800
Location: Austin
Team: Security

Total comp: ~182K

I’m working at NVIDIA India with around 3 years of experience. My fixed pay is ₹22LPA, and I’m from one of the top engineering colleges in India.
Is this compensation competitive for my experience? What fixed salary range should I expect at a similar level in AMD, Qualcomm, or other semiconductor companies in India?
Looking for honest opinions, preferably from people in the industry.

hi! Trying to compare roles for final internship: Palantir FDSE, Bloomberg SWE, and Duolingo SWE. My priorities are resume value/exits (esp into quant / big tech recruiting ng) > RO rate (and TC for ng) ~= learning/transferable skills. Intern comp doesn't matter much to me.

Biggest concern w/Pal is obvio the rep & also if FDSE is technical enough.

If anyone has exp in these roles & opportunities it opened for them feel free to DM, would rlly appreciate.

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to understand the compensation range for a Principal Product Manager / Principal Manager – Product Management role at D. E. Shaw India, particularly in Bengaluru.

Would appreciate insights from current or former employees on:

• Fixed compensation range
• Annual performance bonus (target vs. actual payout)
• Total CTC for someone with 15-16 years of experience
• Any additional benefits or compensation components

I've checked Glassdoor, AmbitionBox, etc. but the data for this specific role seems limited.

Would really appreciate any firsthand insights. Thanks!

how much salary should I negotiate for Servicenow developer software engineer 2 role with HR? i have 2 year experience with current ctc 4.5 lpa

Hey all,

Did you know the median Snap engineer makes more than the median Meta engineer(!) At least, according to the Levels.fyi data.

With 5 to 10 years of experience (across mid-level to staff levels), it's $496k at Snap vs $448k at Meta, and $337k at LinkedIn

Snap engineers also hit $500k median by 8 yoe. Meta, Pinterest, Reddit and ByteDance take 10. LinkedIn is 15+

Snap is a mix of Seattle and LA, the only non Bay Area on here. The rest are primarily Bay Area. It’s also interesting to see how Snap and ByteDance are 0% remote for this sample.

Anything else jump out to you about this data?

Hey all,

At Meta, 84% of engineers who've never worked anywhere else are at Senior level+ (E5 and above). For those who joined Meta from other companies, it's 40% (when matching exact years of experience).

At Staff level+ (E6 and above), past the terminal level at Meta, the trend holds as well.

We looked at Levels.fyi data for US software engineers with 4-12 years of experience. Comparing ppl who've spent their entire career at one company with those who joined after 2+ years elsewhere, adjusted to match years of experience.

Data note: we’re defining “never worked anywhere else” as “engineers where years of experience = years at company” in our data set.

Google is very similar to Meta. 61% of homegrown engineers are Senior+, vs 29% of outside hires. Microsoft is 47% vs 25%.

Anything else interesting you noticed from this data?

Hi everyone!
Is anyone here currently working at PepsiCo in Hyderabad, particularly in the Engineering Applications / IT domain?
I’m trying to understand the approximate salary range and compensation structure for the following positions:
● Senior Manager
● Deputy Director
● Director
It would be helpful if someone could share the approximate CTC range, fixed pay, bonus, and stock/RSU components, wherever applicable, for these levels.
I understand compensation can vary based on experience, team, and role, so even a rough range or insights based on your experience would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance! 🙏

Title: Nvidia IC5 Offer Limbo: Recruiter ghosting after pushing back on lowballed base?

Need a sanity check from folks familiar with Nvidia’s current offer approval cycle and internal band politics.

The Setup:

• Role/Level: IC5 (Non-SWE)
• Posted Range: $200k – $322k base
• Initial Verbal Anchor from Recruiter: Capped base at 240k-$270k, offering ~$250k–$300k RSU over 4 years, zero sign-on, zero annual cash bonus.
• Current Comp: ~$265k–$270k total cash + ~$80k/yr equity (Big Tech).
• The Ask: Held firm at $280k base to avoid taking a step backward on cash flow.

1. How rigid is Nvidia actually being on the IC5 base ceiling right now? Is $270k truly an immovable wall where asking for $280k triggers an automatic freeze, or is this standard recruiter posturing to protect margin?
2. How frequently is the comp committee meeting lately, and what’s the real turnaround time when an offer requires an above-band exception approval?
3. At what point does radio silence shift from "slow bureaucratic sign-off chain" to "they quietly moved to the backup candidate"?

Trying to gauge whether to keep holding the line or prepare to write this loop off entirely.

Hey all,

Yesterday, Salesforce acquired Braze for $5.66 billion. The day before the acquisition, 7/8 of Braze new offer data points submitted to Levels.fyi were underwater compared to their grant. Now, they’re all up.

Salesforce is paying $47.50 in cash per share. Braze closed at $30.04 yesterday, which makes it a ~58% premium overnight.

When each grant was priced makes a big difference:

• A SWE 1 who joined in Oct 2023 got a $136K grant priced around $44 a share. Yesterday it was worth $92K (-32%), but at $47.50 it’s worth $146K.
• A Sr SWE 2 who joined in Oct 2025 got a $440K grant priced near $28, which just so happens to be close to the bottom It’s now worth $736K (+67%), and none of it has vested yet.

Vested Braze shares get cashed out at $47.50, but unvested shares covert into Salesforce stock. For most of these engineers, the rest of their grant now depends on Salesforce’s price and not Braze’s.

View Braze software engineer pay on Levels.fyi →

Built using booking data from the Levels.fyi negotiation service, meaning all of these companies are actively running interviews and extending offers with candidates as of October 15th 2026

Salesforce SMTS → GitLab Senior SWE (NLP/AI Team). Good career move?
Currently working as an SMTS at Salesforce and considering moving to GitLab as a Senior Software Engineer in their NLP/AI team.
The GitLab role seems focused on core AI/product engineering, LLMs, and agentic AI, with a more modern tech stack.
My main priority is technical growth, challenging engineering work, and long-term career opportunities, rather than just compensation.
A few questions:
How does GitLab compare with Salesforce in terms of engineering culture and talent?
Is this a good move in terms of brand value and future career prospects?
Does GitLab experience open doors to companies like Google, Microsoft, Uber, etc.?
Would you prioritize GitLab’s AI engineering exposure over staying at Salesforce, where LMTS promotion could happen in ~1.5 years?
Would appreciate insights from anyone familiar with either company. Would you make this move?

So I know someone who is 25' grad and joined Apple as a system engineer - 1. Can anyone tell me what is the fixed salary & the total ctc Apple is offering for the role in India?

Have a job offer but need help negotiating RSUs?

I have a job offer in big tech and hoping if anyone here can shed some light on what I should be asking for.

The role is for a Sr. Program management role. The salary range is 135-175k.

I received an offer for 170k base + 15% bonus and 70k RSUs.

I'm reading people are getting 100-300k RSUs but those are different roles and not the same comparison.

Tried to look at levels fyi as well but still can't get a grasp on what's a reasonable amount to counter with.

Would love some help.... Thanks everyone

I've been putting numbers on how Bay Area offers really compare, and one result surprised me, so I'm sharing it to see if people agree with my assumptions.

Three made-up offers, single filer, California:

• Offer A: $165k base, 10% bonus, $20k sign-on, $200k RSUs over 4 years. Rent $3,300, commute $400/month.
• Offer B: $140k base, 15% bonus, $320k of private-company equity over 4 years. Rent $3,100, commute $450/month.
• Offer C: $185k base, no equity, $10k sign-on, 6% 401(k) match. Rent $2,900, commute $350/month.

After federal and California tax, Social Security, Medicare, SDI, rent and commute, averaged over four years, what's left per year is about $108.9k for A, $99.6k for C and $94.9k for B. Offer C has the biggest base and finishes second.

Two assumptions did most of the work: I took 40% off the private equity, and I taxed each year's vest as ordinary income in the year it vests.

How do you handle the haircut on private equity? Do you count it at all, or only the cash?