from Gergely Orosz | by Gergely Orosz

An interesting detail on manager compensation versus individual contributor compensation. Who makes more, almost always? I had assumed (correctly) that managers do. At most companies. But the closer you get to the top of the market (to the “top tiers”) the less true this is!

At the top of market / Big Tech / scaleups, managers and ICs at the same level usually have the same total compensation. Which surprises most people (it surprised me!) As a caveat these positions are rare, hard to get into, etc etc. But almost all work like this.

(I’m doing analysis on how tech compensation is changing in 2024, and also covering some of these dynamics. If you’re a hiring manager or recruiter with observations open to giving feedback, send me a DM and will share my high-level draft with observations)