Tech employees are expressing concerns that the industry may be nearing the end of a highly profitable period. A recent poll on the anonymous job site Blind saw thousands of participants discussing the possibility of the tech sector eliminating $500,000 salaries. The poll, initiated by an Oracle employee, cited instances of program managers earning $500,000 in total compensation between 2019 and 2022, while "average" software development engineers earned $350,000, and recruiters earned $200,000. The post questioned if these days were over and if salaries would return to 2015 levels where only directors with 100+ direct reports could earn over $500,000.
Nearly 14,000 users participated in the poll, with a slight majority (51.5%) agreeing that this era was ending. While some users, like one from Amazon, argued that tech salaries would remain high, they believed that excessive overpaying would stop. Others mentioned receiving multiple offers with over $1.1 million in total compensation. However, some users suggested that the increasing supply of developers could lead to a decrease in demand and lower salaries.
The discussion extended beyond just tech salaries, with concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on job security also being raised. Some participants questioned whether their jobs would be replaced due to advancements in AI, with a Microsoft engineer stating that the "golden age is over" and that software engineering is a dying profession.