Microsoft is a well-known tech giant which exists for decades.
Amazon, even though it's known as an online webshop, has an extremely powerful engineering team behind it - definitely one of the best in the world.
But how huge are salaries at those companies?
Thankfully, all that data can be viewed publicly because of great people at levels.fyi.
The massive salaries are prone to high taxes, and that's why they are always divided into 3 parts: base salary, stocks, and bonuses.
Let's dive in.
Junior Engineers
Even though most of these people have 0-2 years of experience, the numbers can be pretty big.
The average salary for Microsoft engineers is $158k. Base salary is $111k, stocks are $29k, while bonuses are $18k. Pretty good, right?
But people in Amazon get a bit more money, with an average of $163k. The base is $123k, stocks $20k, and bonuses $19k.
Mid-Level Engineers
Things slightly change for more experienced roles.
The average experience is 2-5 years, however, that's not the rule. Some people have 1, and some of them 10 years of experience.
The average salary for this role in Microsoft is $176k. The base is $135k, stocks $24k, bonuses $17k.
The increase is not so big here. However, Amazon is.
Engineers here have an average salary of $226k. The base is $151k, stocks $60k, and bonuses $15k.
Senior Engineer
Ok, now we're already in the quite high league. People here have 5-20 years of experience, and most of them stop at this level.
Microsoft engineers earn $215k on average. The base is $162k, stocks $28k, bonuses $24k.
Amazon engineers earn way more in this category - $329k on average. The base is $162k, stocks $156k, and bonuses £10k.
Staff Engineers
If you're a top-notch Microsoft or Amazon engineer, you will pass the senior role, and become a Staff Engineer. You need to have at least 7 years of experience and can have up to 20+.
The average salary for this role in Microsoft is $286k. The base is $197k, stocks $47k, bonuses $42k.The highest salary is $318k.
Amazon absolutely smashes Microsoft for this role. The average salary is a whopping $669k! The base is $167k, stocks $444k, and bonuses $57k.
The highest salary is up to $790k!
Senior Staff Engineers
It's not enough. You're a top-notch engineer in the world, and you deserve the highest possible compensation. People here have something from 10, up to 35+ years of experience.
Just a few engineers will come to this role.
The average Microsoft salary is $498k. The base is $240k, stocks $176k, bonuses $83k; while the highest one is $619k.
Amazon smashes again with $960k as an average salary. The base is $160k, stocks $780k, bonuses $20k. However, the biggest salary here is a bit more than $1MM!
Conclusion - start coding
The demand for software engineers is massive, and you don't need to have a degree in Computer Science to do it.
You won't end up working in Microsoft or Amazon, but there are many great companies that will pay you $100k+.
You can self-educate yourself, and change your life if you're interested in it.
This period will last for some time, and if you're interested in it - give it a go.
As you've just read, the prices can be astonishing.