If the average engineer could get a job at FAANG then they presumably would since their total comp would go up 2x. In my experience most engineers can't get one of those jobs despite trying. So they circle around non-tech companies and startups for lower compensations. I've observed this both in the Bay Area and New York. People who are in the FAANG bubble don't notice this in my experience (or the difficulty of FAANG interviews for many engineers) as they don't interact with that part of the engineer population.
> If the average engineer could get a job at FAANG then they presumably would since their total comp would go up 2x.
A lot of them don't actually know that.
Every time someone posts one of those developer salary articles here, from levels.fyi or similar sites, there a long line of naysayers who just can't believe the numbers are real -- but they are real.
Which means to hire you a company doesn't need to compete with FAANG on salary. This doesn't refute my original point that startups don't really need to compete with FAANG salaries for talent.
