I've run into this. I work at a place that claims they pay top market rate. I've poked around other options and it seems like they're right about that!
Back in 2014 when this article was posted, it was probably more true. Lots of money frothing around and salaries were growing and growing faster than employers were willing to keep up with for existing employees (although even then, I had a job that gave me a substantial raise just to keep up with the market.)
I've run into this too, hopping from one FAANG to another. In fact, the second company's comp offer was so close to my current comp (about 0.1% over), it's hard to imagine there wasn't some covert information sharing going on.
The "job hop for a salary bump" conversations always seem to assume you are early in your career, where this works. My first job hop was for about +50%. My second one was for around +20%. 20 years into my career, job hopping does not seem to increase my comp at all. The plateau is real.
After a certain point, you have to change roles and/or move into management.
Yep, similar experience at about 15 years into my career. Not to say it'd be impossible to increase, but the opportunities are few and far between especially in a cooled off market. And the actual job might be a lot worse/more stressful.
Always be reevaluating, though, the situation could change in a couple years. But until then I sleep well at night knowing I'm paid near top of market at a decent company. Not worth chasing those last couple percentiles, personally.
Concur - I had 5 offers two years ago, 4 last year, and 2 this year before settling in where I currently work - all about the same (one outlier was +20% the rest, and one outlier was ~70% the rest). I've come to accept the median of those offers as my "set point" for a while.
I am in the same position where the company I work for tends to pay near the top of the market. I account for this by trying to save as much as possible and not having a lifestyle that requires this top of the market salary. I’m under no illusion that the gravy train can run out at any time and my next role may be a step down or step up in salary.
I'll also just be explicit with recruiters who email me. Say I'd be looking for X amount. And they pretty much always say "oh no that's too much" and we go our separate ways. So that channel feels dried up.
At which point your only options is (unless you're in the) FAANG or making your own business if you're in tech (or relatable ish businesses). Or moving to a low cost of living state / city.
I feel like the ceiling for me is awful, since in Florida the cost of everything is going up, but companies aren't willing to pay competitive salary, despite boasting about it, they all seem to pay standard / average pay.
I assume you don't live in Florida? I don't know anyone here making insane amounts of cash doing the kind of work I do, unless you're doing mainframe programming, then you're just guaranteed some paychecks.
Well, the article focuses on the first 10 years of one's career. Once you hit that 10-year mark you are aiming for positions like Staff/Principal Engineer - those are harder to get, and often require you to spend more than 2 years in the company before you are seriously considered for them. And not because of some weird politics, but because to do those jobs really well you need intimate knowledge not only of mainstream technologies, but also stuff internal to the company, like legacy code bases, team structures, long term goals and strategies, etc.
