Brief
Most engineers in India rank employers the same way. FAANG first, product companies next, open source companies lower or sometimes not even in the list. The assumption usually is that open source pays less, or doesn't pay at all.
I work at Levels.fyi. Looking at five years of salary data covering around 4,000 open source engineers across 38 OSS companies, next to 23 FAANG+ and 23 Indian tech companies, I would like to know the opinions of the room, then I will put the data next to them and see where things are assumed or diverge.
Things to discuss
- Do you think OSS companies pay less? What made you think that?
- Does the gap change by level? Fresher, mid, senior.
- Both OSS and FAANG offer stock and it does not mean the same thing. How do you value an offer that is mostly paper?
- What trade-offs do you think you will make? Brand name, promotion ladder, job security.
- How can we do a better job at highlighting the pay of open-source companies, and how can we change that notion of valuing open-source companies lower?
If you have hired at an OSS company or taken an offer from one, or are looking to get hired and want to know about compensation, this is a discussion for you.
Note: The data is self-reported, thin at senior levels, and small OSS companies barely show up.
Discussion Format
Round table. 5 minutes of context setting without revealing any data. Then a round where people say what they believe. Then I bring data on the claims that come up, and we have a discussion around it.
Moderator
Deveesh Shetty is Software Engineer at Levels.fyi, and City Lead at FOSS United Mangalore.
Open to a co-moderator, who has done hiring or managing compensation in open source companies.
