Salary question

gwnd1989

How much would a North American based company with:

~3000 clients
~Web/Reseller/VPS/Dedi hosting

Would pay an L3 support engineer with development experience? (Someone who can debug php/python scripts)

yoursunny

In California everyone is paid $12.00/hour.
You can get cheaper by outsourcing to Philippines.

SirFoxy

@yoursunny said:
In California everyone is paid $12.00/hour.
You can get cheaper by outsourcing to Philippines.

You can't even afford to eat in LA for $12/hr

seriesn

@SirFoxy said:

@yoursunny said:
In California everyone is paid $12.00/hour.
You can get cheaper by outsourcing to Philippines.

You can't even afford to eat in LA for $12/hr

You can. Not everyone lives in the valley you death eater.

SirFoxy

@seriesn said:

@SirFoxy said:

@yoursunny said:
In California everyone is paid $12.00/hour.
You can get cheaper by outsourcing to Philippines.

You can't even afford to eat in LA for $12/hr

You can. Not everyone lives in the valley you death eater.

Ok Mr. Rice and beans 3x a day.

seriesn

@SirFoxy said:

@seriesn said:

@SirFoxy said:

@yoursunny said:
In California everyone is paid $12.00/hour.
You can get cheaper by outsourcing to Philippines.

You can't even afford to eat in LA for $12/hr

You can. Not everyone lives in the valley you death eater.

Ok Mr. Rice and beans 3x a day.

You and I should not be sharing the same bathroom.

Barnesanger

It support here in norway pays anything from $25 to $125 / hour

gwnd1989

Thank you

dominame

I'm confused! The OP said "salary", which has a quite specific meaning. I'd expect amounts per month or per year in response.

The responses, however, appear to be citing freelancer fees. I'd expect freelancers, not salaried staff, to be quoting or being offered per hour or per shift.

So here I am, starting up, very much looking forward to the day I hire my first employee and perusing this thread avidly for the answer to the specific salary question.

Or are employed staff still paid per hour? What is the protocol these days regarding holiday pay, pensions, etc?

user54321

at start 100k+ per year + company benefits. higer experience = higher salary.

William

@gwnd1989 said: Would pay an L3 support engineer with development experience? (Someone who can debug php/python scripts)

Debug, Change or write from scratch?

That will define if its 60, 90 or 120k USD/yr area.

seriesn

Tbh,
It also depends where you are from. An USA based business wouldn't pay USA salary and hire remote worker

bacloud

@yoursunny said:
In California everyone is paid $12.00/hour.
You can get cheaper by outsourcing to Philippines.

OMG, we in Lithuania earning more than people in California. Sounds like bullshit ( $12.00/hour )

yoursunny

@bacloud said:

@yoursunny said:
In California everyone is paid $12.00/hour.
You can get cheaper by outsourcing to Philippines.

OMG, we in Lithuania earning more than people in California. Sounds like bullshit ( $12.00/hour )

Starting 2021-01-01, California wage has increased to $13.00/hour.
https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_minimumwage.htm

William

@bacloud said: OMG, we in Lithuania earning more than people in California. Sounds like bullshit ( $12.00/hour )

This is minimum wage. Minimum wage in LT is way less (607EUR by 160 hours = 3.79EUR/hr).

@seriesn said: USA based business wouldn't pay USA salary and hire remote worker

Absolutely not true. I worked like this many years, at above 100k/yr. It is cheaper for them as they have zero tax burden or employees rights to follow.

dustinc

@yoursunny said:
In California everyone is paid $12.00/hour.
You can get cheaper by outsourcing to Philippines.

I wouldn't say everyone is paid that low... at least not in our industry.

Though depending on how hungry, and talented a support engineer is, in California, you're making anywhere between 40k to 80k, and if you're good, in the 100s.

As for sales anywhere between $40k to $70k, and if you're sales beast, managing others, teaching, and producing you can expect easily, $200k/year and above.

At the end of the day, I believe you're worth as much as you think. And most of the time, regardless of what you're paid, you'll realize you're often underpaid. So in the end, it's all a game.

dominame

That's good guidance. Thanks @dustinc. The GB£ is currently fluctuating around US$1.33, so you're saying £30k-£60k for somebody competent and reasonably diligent, depending upon experience, + or ++ for those who are either more skilled or prepared to go the extra mile. £100k plus and more for somebody I couldn't afford!

jar

If they're young and have no previous job history at that level you might rope one in around $50k. I'd estimate $150k ceiling with more likely starting point being around $75k.

I have a data source for this but it's my brain and it's output called "instinct" so take it as one man's opinion and little more.

sdglhm

If you're not from US of A, most probably companies would try to cap around 45-65k. Some companies would still pay the usual USA dev/admin salary.

dominame

@sdglhm said:
If you're not from US of A, most probably companies would try to cap around 45-65k. Some companies would still pay the usual USA dev/admin salary.

UK is very similar to USA in so many ways, business and job wise. I'm happy to take @dustinc's and @jar's opinions as reasonable rules of thumb. Every situation is different so it's only guidelines, but good starting points to work from.

TimboJones

@William said:

@bacloud said: OMG, we in Lithuania earning more than people in California. Sounds like bullshit ( $12.00/hour )

This is minimum wage. Minimum wage in LT is way less (607EUR by 160 hours = 3.79EUR/hr).

@seriesn said: USA based business wouldn't pay USA salary and hire remote worker

Absolutely not true. I worked like this many years, at above 100k/yr. It is cheaper for them as they have zero tax burden or employees rights to follow.

Were you performing work in the US or outside US? In any case, you sound rare. The hassle of not having someone familiar country, the time difference, etc adds up and needs to have value. Are you an American citizen?

Tl;dr I'd bet your US counterpart made more than you and you didn't know that. Otherwise, your management is suspect.

TimboJones

@dustinc said:

@yoursunny said:
In California everyone is paid $12.00/hour.
You can get cheaper by outsourcing to Philippines.

I wouldn't say everyone is paid that low... at least not in our industry.

Though depending on how hungry, and talented a support engineer is

Engineer is such an abused word. In many cases, it would be more accurate to call them technicians instead of engineers.

seriesn

@William said:

@bacloud said: OMG, we in Lithuania earning more than people in California. Sounds like bullshit ( $12.00/hour )

This is minimum wage. Minimum wage in LT is way less (607EUR by 160 hours = 3.79EUR/hr).

@seriesn said: USA based business wouldn't pay USA salary and hire remote worker

Absolutely not true. I worked like this many years, at above 100k/yr. It is cheaper for them as they have zero tax burden or employees rights to follow.

I could definitely be wrong. But don't see much value in paying overseas talent the same as local. If one wants to avoid employee benefits and what not, company that are big enough to pay high salary knows how easy it is to bypass those by hiring "individual" contractors.

gwnd1989

So the OP here, I get paid 1600$/month and I am very happy with it. I am from Sri Lanka so nothing to complain about lol

@TimboJones I too do not like titles but L3 support engineer is what WHMCS has listed me as

gwnd1989

@William said:

@gwnd1989 said: Would pay an L3 support engineer with development experience? (Someone who can debug php/python scripts)

Debug, Change or write from scratch?

That will define if its 60, 90 or 120k USD/yr area.

All 3...