Main image of article Many Tech Pros Think Their Pay Doesn't Match Their Value
According to the most recent Dice Salary Survey, the average tech pro made $93,244 in 2018, a very slight 0.6 percent increase from the year before. For many Americans, that’s a lot of money—but many tech pros don’t consider their annual pay nearly enough. Blind recently asked its pool of anonymous tech pros to answer “True” or “False” to the following statement: “I am paid far less than the value I create.” A slight majority (55.8 percent) responded with “True,” that they were paid less than their value. The answer also varied by company: Some 60.68 percent of employees at Uber, 60.53 percent of employees at LinkedIn, and 59.09 percent of employees at Intel all thought they provided value above and beyond their take-home pay. On the flip side of the equation, only 31 percent of respondents who worked at Facebook thought they were underpaid relative to their value; some 44.64 percent of eBay employees thought the same. Check out the full list: Some interesting points here: Unlike some other Blind surveys, in which there are significant percentage swings between the “top” and “bottom” companies on a list, the companies here are in a pretty tight cluster—across the tech industry, it seems that roughly half of all tech pros think they’re paid appropriately for what they contribute. Also, consider that, because the responses to Blind’s surveys are anonymous, it’s impossible to determine if the respondents actually work for these companies. In light of that, perhaps it’s best to take the individual company results with the proverbial grain of salt; however, we can assume that the overall sentiment about pay and value is correct. For those tech pros who feel they’re underpaid relative to what they bring to the table, perhaps it’s time for a conversation with your manager. Sometimes your boss loses track of what exactly you’re contributing; in those cases, a refresher session is perhaps in order. You can schedule a dedicated meeting, or (depending on timing) wait until your quarterly or annual review. During these meetings, it’s important to show your impact. Your boss won’t necessarily care how much you’re doing—their focus is on results. If you can bring metrics to the table that show your actual contribution, that will go a long way to convincing the organization that you need a generous pay bump. Dice’s data has also shown that upgrading your skills can lead to better pay, especially if you learn in-demand tools and processes. For example, those tech pros skilled in artificial intelligence (A.I.) and machine learning often enjoy six-figure salaries (and generous perks in addition to high pay). If you feel like your career has stagnated, consider changing things up by taking a few classes or pursuing a new avenue of learning.