The salary site Glassdoor recently passed its one-year anniversary, which gives fresh meaning to the question: are the tech salaries the site publishes accurate? Glassdoor generated a tempest of controversy the moment it launched. Many sites list IT salary levels – here’s 2009 IT salaries and 2004-09 IT salaries – describing pay by job title […]
The salary site
Glassdoorrecently passed its one-year anniversary, which gives fresh meaning to the question: are the tech salaries the site publishes accurate?
Glassdoor generated a tempest of controversy the moment it launched. Many sites list IT salary levels – here’s 2009 IT salaries and 2004-09 IT salaries – describing pay by job title and national average. But Glassdoor goes one very risqué step further: it purports to post the actual salary levels of staffers at specific companies.
It invites tech employees (and staff from other industries) to anonymously post their salary. In return they get access to a trove of anonymously posted salaries. The site averages the data together and applies a statistical filter that, in theory, tosses out the outliers.
Last year, Glassdoor chief executive Robert Hohman, told me the site takes great care to check its user-generated pay figures.
“We’ve got a bunch of technical and procedural mechanisms to vet the data,” he said, though when pressed on details, he deferred. “We’re not really talking about the specifics we’re using.”
Critic pounced on Glassdoor. Forbes dubbed it “workplace porn.” Prominent tech headhunter Nick Corcodilos dismissed it as “salary gossip” and called it a negative for tech professionals. Building an information source using data gathered anonymously over the Internet is like trying to build a solid wall from Swiss cheese.
Still, curious wage slaves flocked to gawk at the naked data. In fact they did more than gawk – they contributed their own pay numbers, sans ID, of course. Glassdoor now claims to have salary figures, reviews and interview questions from a whopping 26,000 companies.
What’s your view? All that user-generated data makes Glassdoor a Wikipedia of salary information. But is the information worth the pixels it’s printed on?
Peruse the following IT salaries – all data is courtesy of Glassdoor – and comment below. Given your industry experience, do the pay levels seem accurate? (When you comment, it’d be helpful if you list your industry background. Thanks.)
Software developers see some good pay levels, yet this survey of developer salaries between 2004 and 2009 indicates that raises aren’t automatic. Mood changes in the tech market can be tough on paychecks.
Microsoft Software Development Engineer
Average: $90,608
Range: $56k to $145k
IBM Staff Software Engineer
Average: $83,361
Range: $62k to $125k
Google Software Engineer
Average: $95,566
Range: $61k to $150k
Oracle Software Engineer
Average: $87,879
Range: $60 to $123k
Yahoo Software Engineer
Average: $97,010
Range: $70 to $128k
Intel Software Engineer
Average: $81,456
Range: $50k to $145k
Hewlett-Packard Software Engineer
Average: $88,959
Range: $61k to $140k
eBay Software Engineer
Average: $91,938
Range: $76k to $140k
Symantec Software Engineer
Average: $80,785
Range: $56k to $110k
Next Page: Tech retail workers’ pay levels
I’ve always wondered what the Mac Genius bar folks make. I’ve dealt with some really talented ones that truly know the Mac inside and out. Others, perhaps less so, but most are pretty talented.
Mac genius bar:
Average: $18.07 per hour
Range: $11 to $25 per hour
Best Buy, Geek Squad Agent
Average: $11.92 per hour
Range: $9 to $16 per hour
Mac Specialist, Apple Store
Average: $11.43 per hour
Range: $9 to $17 per hour
PC Technician
Average: n/a
Range: $10 to $12 per hour
From my many conversations with tech hiring experts, being a project manager is a ticket to career safety. They seem to always be in high demand.
Infosys Project Manager
Average: $79,276
Range: $50k to $140k
Dell Project Manager
Average: $83,064
Range: $60k to $110k
Sprint Nextel Project Manager
Average: $81,052
Range: $46k to $109k
Sapient Associate Project Manager
Average: $59,571
Range: $52k to $69k
Wipro Technologies Project Manager
Average: $83,208
Range: $68k to $108k
Accenture Consultant
Average: $81,052
Range: $46k to $109k
Bearing Point Consultant
Average: $73,078
Range: $45k to $123k
Bearing Point Consultant
Average: $73,078
Range: $45k to $123k
Chevron IT, IT Business Analyst
Average: $65,485
Range: $50k to $81k
Tata Consultancy IT Analyst
Average: $60,775
Range: $52k to $65k
Capgemini Senior Consultant
Average: $85,088
Range: $70k to $110k
AOL: Senior Database Administrator
Average: $112,250
Range: $100k to $120k
Expedia: Senior Database Administrator
Average: $97,595
Range: $93k to $103k
Next Page: more IT salary levels
Raytheon Systems Engineer II
Average: $73,016
Range: $62k to $80k
Lockheed Martin System Engineer
Average: $74,428
Range: $60k to $124k
General Dynamics Network Engineer
Average: $89,362
Range: $74k to $104k
Nortel Network Engineer
Average: $75,643
Range: $42k to $105k
Verizon Network Engineer
Average: $72,985
Range: $42k to $103k
HP Solutions Architect
Average: $110,838
Range: $70k to $143k
TEKsystems Technical Recruiter
Average: $36,675
Range: $30k to $40k
Akamai Technical Sales Engineer
Average: $109,464
Range: $99k to $120k
Siemens IT Solutions, Technician
Average: $23.85 per hour
Range: $20 to $25 per hour
Lenovo Product Manager
Average: $86,300
Range: $65k to $130k
ALSO SEE: IT Salary Levels, 2004-2009
AND: IT Expert: IT Hiring has ‘Stabilized’
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James Maguire is Datamation's Senior Managing Editor and has been reporting on technology topics for more than 15 years. He has covered the gamut of enterprise and consumer technology, and regularly communicates with leading IT newsmakers, vendors and analysts.
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