One of the more salient side effects of the incredible shrinking tech sector is the loss of so many high-paying jobs, many of which young jobseekers were encouraged to apply for by those who implored them to "learn to code."

As such, we generally expect inflated salaries when we learn what people who work at Big Tech firms make — between $120,000 and $160,000 for entry-level positions, say, and up to a half a million dollars for middle management.

That's what makes it so weird when, upon looking at Microsoft compensation data that was leaked to Business Insider, we learned that those on the lowest rungs of its seniority ladder are barely scratching six figures in their core salaries — and that's if they even reach past $100K.

There are, as Meek Mill so aptly put it back in 2013, "levels to this" — seniority levels, that is. Microsoft's lowest-tier engineering positions are coded, as BI reported another recent story about the tech giant's salary ranges, at level 57. Those jobs start with an $83,000 base salary rate — life-changing money to the average American, but low on the spectrum tech workers grew to expect from hugely profitable corporations competing to hire the best talent.

On top of that base salary, level 57 engineers are also, per the leaks, given a $5,000 to $13,000 stock award upon hiring — the only guaranteed hiring benefit, given that their sign-on bonuses range from $0 to 9,000, with no criteria about how that figure is selected.

In the latest piece about the leaked salaries, BI started its salary range charts at level 59, the top of the entry-level tier. Those roles show a clear salary progression, with base pays starting at $120,800 and cash bonuses ranging widely between $3,000 $19,300.

Level 60, meanwhile, seems to somewhat inverts the base salary/cash bonus share, with starting pay ranging from $111,000 to $160,000 and cash bonuses being anywhere from $9,300 to $21,700. Both tiers also include similar bonus percentages — eight to 14 percent of salary for level 59 and eight to 16 percent for level 60 — and their stock awards are either $7K to $19.3K or $7.3K to $20K, respectively.

Were these salaries tempered by, say, greater job security, their low competitiveness might be worth it. Unfortunately, that's not the case: Microsoft laid off 9,000 people, or roughly four percent of its workforce, just last month, and that came on the heels of wave after wave of job cuts even as the company pours tens of billions of dollars into AI investments.

Though we don't have salary charts as conclusive as those leaked to BI for other tech giants, there is a bit of insight about compensation via social media claims from those who say they've gotten job offers. In one from 2023, an alleged new graduate on the r/IBM subreddit said they were offered $139,500 as a base salary after interning for the company — and if that's to be believed, that's more than $55,000 higher than what Microsoft offers at its low end for similar jobs.

While IBM is no stranger to AI layoffs, its job cuts haven't been nearly as repeated or brutal as Microsoft, nor has it invested anywhere near as much in AI. If we had to choose... well, if you're on the job market, you'll have to make up your own mind.

More on Microsoft: Microsoft Releases List of Jobs Most and Least Likely to Be Replaced by AI


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