Bomb shell: What am I being paid?

Posted on Sunday December 17, 2023
Category: Society
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⏱ Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Oh no! What have I done?!

Yes, we will be talking money, I am going to break the fourth wall. I believe that people must be fairly compensated and work in an environment that suits their style. Whether you personally know me or not, this is an opportunity to learn how much I make and position yourself in this market. And if you’re a recruiter casually passing by my profile, please use this data responsibly.

This idea comes from a blog post I read a while ago where the author described their salary and benefits over time in a similar format. People, it’s good to chase the money! You have dreams to realize and, if you don’t, you can help others with theirs!

Performance

Pay transparency is critical. I am not a formidable engineer and I would not have created half of what I did without my friends, coworkers and local tech community. We collectively deserve my benefits. Also, they should reflect multiple facets:

• Company performance: Early investors sure deserve their share, but without a strong core team a company quickly fizzles out. The performance of the company is linked to compound effects from what the employees are doing: better sales, better engineering, better vision. In any case: the employee deserves a part;
• Personal performance: Whether one is fixing bugs all day, making sure colleagues deeply understand challenges or work on high-value stuff, personal performance must be rewarded. This is the meritocracy aspect. We’re talking current performance, not past. If the value created this year does not exceed the last, this component may not improve;
• Experience: Also called wisdom or business acumen. We accumulate knowledge about our company, consequently we become more able to steer the ship over time. If people turn to you for advice or if you align voices, you become valuable. Companies need these people to reduce friction between teams, yet they cannot afford to be too dependent on them because we should all strive to become replaceable.

Everyone contributes a part to the company, even in unexpected ways. Some make the office lively or structured, the processes more human or more stringent, the work motivating or inspiring. The voice of the company is that of all its people combined.

Now, let’s end this corporate speech, I feel gross defending those “values” which end up being the same but worded differently. “Be brave”, “be bold”, “be you”? You are part of a team, not a family and should never cozy up. At the same time be kind to yourself, others and do a great and clean job.

You wish to learn how much I am being paid, right? So let’s get this out of the way.

Fair warning

Before we begin, I must warn you: the numbers exposed here are correct, translated to dollar amounts as of the 1st of January of that year. French compensation packages must include unemployment, pension and social deductions, meal tickets, public transportation refunds and remote work refunds which are left out. This list only includes gross yearly earnings and bonuses. Additionally, a 24-month gap from the last update will be left to give an edge to my current employer.

If you feel something is odd, send me a message. We’ll get through this together. Again: I am for full and fair wage transparency.

The numbers

Last edit: 17th of December 2023

Your turn

If you decide to embark on a journey to share your salary online, please share this journey with me so that I can link it here. This article is for curious minds who wish to learn more about my journey and what they can ask for.