According to levels.fyi<\/a>, which crowd-sources salary information, Microsoft pays its engineers who hit level 67 (i.e., principal software development engineer) roughly $222,714 in salary, along with $226,000 per year in stock options, and a bonus of $73,143.<\/p>\n\n\nThose at Microsoft who climb to level 69\u2014making them a full-fledged \u201cpartner\u201d\u2014can make $270,000, with a stock grant of $500,000 and a bonus of $140,000 (although the levels.fyi database only has data from a single respondent at that level).<\/p>\n\n\n
Compare that to Google, where software engineers at the L7 level (a senior manager role; roughly equivalent to Microsoft\u2019s level 67) can expect to pull down $256,059 in annual salary, $286,176 in stock, and a bonus of $83,294. Those who ascend yet another level to full-on director (L8) can enjoy total compensation of roughly $800,000 (but as with Microsoft level 69, there are few L8 respondents to levels.fyi, making it difficult to get an accurate grasp of salaries at this level).<\/p>\n\n\n
Once employees climb to this height, of course, they\u2019re likely more of a manager than a developer or engineer. Some tech professionals might not like this if all they want to do is build and code. For others, though, there\u2019s nothing better than managing a team that knows exactly what it\u2019s doing, and has significant challenges to overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n
Have a look at this chart that breaks down their salaries:<\/p>\n\n\n
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