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Guys who are applying to Gitlab, make sure you checkout the compensation for your experience and geographic location https://about.gitlab.com/jobs/developer/#co

Guys who are applying to Gitlab, make sure you checkout the compensation for your experience and geographic location https://about.gitlab.com/jobs/developer/#compensation https://about.gitlab.com/jobs/developer/#compensation . This may bite you in the later stages of the interview. If you look at the extremes, the salary you would get in Luanda, Angola is 1500% more than what you get if you were in Valenzuela, Philippines.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
jamie_ca 10y ago
On the bright side, it's seriously awesome that they're so transparent about salaries.
- alantudyk 10y ago
  That really depends on where you live :) Not so bright, If you are living in a country which has a low rent index. The calculation is really messed up, rent index should be a contributor not a multiplier.
  - sashagitlab 10y ago
    Hey there! Thanks for the feedback. I'm part of the PeopleOps team at GitLab and we are always looking to improve our comp. calculator. We know it isn't perfect yet and we need feedback from everyone to create the most fair and accurate compensation calculator for everyone. If you want to share your experience and suggestions with me, I'd be happy to chat with you directly and share them with our internal compensation committee. Feel free to email me at sasha@gitlab.com !
    - vilya 10y ago
      I like that you guys are being open about this, but the way you calculate compensation leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth. I very much dislike the idea that you, as an employer, are deciding what proportion of their income your employees should be spending on rent. You're also effectively saying that work done by someone who lives in a cheaper location is less valuable to the company than the same work done by someone who lives in a more expensive location. Maybe all employers do this and the only difference is that you guys are being honest about it, but still... yuck.
      - nstart 10y ago
        As someone who works remotely in a company that does take location into account, I can understand their perspective. I think there's a base value for work and then depending on the power of each dollar earned, there are multipliers to that that eventually give you your final salary. So it's "value of work" * location based spending power differences. Value of work stays constant. That said I do think the factors used to calculate the salary can improve. In general, I love the idea of thinking of quality of life. Can a person in Sri Lanka enjoy a similar quality of life as a person in SF at least in terms of factors that can be controlled (a company can't control the quality of public transport or municipalities for example in a given location but can provide me the opportunity to purchase experiences or work around those matters). And that matters because although rent in Sri Lanka is lower than Brisbane, buying groceries is actually more expensive. Buying electronics is certainly more expensive because of the enormous markups and taxes. Compared to a location in the US, I pay nearly triple the value of a given electronics item at times just for the cost of shipping it and then paying customs. Even travel becomes more expensive since I have much more lengthy Visa processes to go through. These numbers eventually add up and while I can save huge amounts of money by living frugally, if I wanted to live a good life supporting my wife and child, the number should be ideally 60k USD and above rather than 38k. Should mention that Software engineers are considered to be some of the lowest level fodder in Sri Lanka and our good salaries can be something like 12-15k per year. Starting salaries would be something ridiculous like 3k USD per year (that was mine). But that's also why so many people are migrating to australia, US, and canada asap if they can.
        vilya 10y ago
        Doesn't it bother you that you can provide the same value to your employer as someone in Brisbane, but only get paid a fraction as much for it merely because you're in Sri Lanka? I'm a remote worker too (and I'm very happy with the way my current employer handles it). As long as I'm available at the times and places my employer needs me to be, why should they have any say in where I live or how I spend my money? I want to be able to manage my quality of life myself, not have it decided for me by someone else!
guessmyname 10y ago
I live in Valenzuela, Philippines and can attest that the cost of life is very cheap here, I am not surprised that the compensation is lower. What I wonder is what happens if you get hired while working from the Philippines and then move to a more expensive city like New York, or vice-versa. Will GitLab change the salary automatically? Because one could easily create a bank account in the US and live in a cheap country and there is no need to disclose that information.
- ernstvn 10y ago
  If you relocate, then yes, that affects compensation. This is described in more detail on https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/#relocation https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/#relocat...
ernstvn 10y ago
We're working on a global compensation framework, to be open and fair about compensation for everyone that works at GitLab. It's described in more detail on https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/global-compensation-framework/ https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/global-c... . The local rent index (+ a fixed 0.25), NYC benchmark, level, and experience all play in to the compensation. Having the calculator has allowed us to make offers to people in lots of new locations. I'm always looking for ways to keep it robust (i.e. as simple as possible) while being fair as well. If you have specific ideas on how to improve it, please send me an email on ernst@gitlab.com
- alantudyk 10y ago
  If you are really serious about being fair. Ask yourself this question: Why would a guy who can easily get 6K+ USD per month by working on Upwork, Toptal work for Gitlab for 1/3rd of that money and that too Full time? A quick google search will show you that people use 30% of their salary towards their rent: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=rent+as+percentage+of+salary https://www.google.co.in/search?q=rent+as+percentage+of+sala... What does that tell you about computing salaries based off of rent? You can see a lot of people discussing Gitlab's salary in a negative way on HN: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=gitlab%20salary&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?query=gitlab%20salary&sort=byPopular... Most of them have fluff responses talking about being open and fair.
  - ernstvn 10y ago
    We are serious about being fair :-) Regarding using the rent index; that was a data-driven decision as described on https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/global-compensation-framework/#how-was-it-developed https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/global-c... but as I mentioned, it is a work-in-progress just like everything else at GitLab always is, and I'm open to alternatives / ideas.
    - zoobab 10y ago
      Just run a simulation for Belgium, you are way below the average.
discordianfish 10y ago
While I appreciate the transparency, I don't think such large salary differences are reasonable especially with remote work. In the end you compete globally for remote employees and it possible to work remote for SV companies and get somewhat similar salaries than the onsite employees. ...and of course is living much more expensive in SV but I don't see why that should be "subsidized". No harm in people realizing that it's freaking crazy to pay that much rent.
- StavrosK 10y ago
  Holy hell, you aren't joking. I compared my city with SF in their calculator, and they pay 3,6 times more for someone in SF! That means I can get a $160k rise just by moving to SF! This seems super duper broken.
  - guessmyname 10y ago
    You will also spend 3,6 times more money while living in San Francisco.
    - nothrabannosir 10y ago
      The price is that high for a reason: sf has a lot to offer. Networking opportunities, job market liquidity (see all the ONSITE SF posts in this very thread), etc. Perhaps not 3.6 more, but it definitely beats a cabin in the Siberian tundra. By correcting for rent, you give people that advantage for free. That's why it's unfair.
      - NonEUCitizen 10y ago
        The way to deal with their unfairness is to refuse to work for them (unless you're in SF!)
        arihantar 10y ago
        Trust me on that I am working with GitLab from past 6 months and I have never regretted a day. GitLab is always open for ideas and this is also work in progress. How many companies have you seen declaring their compensation framework :)
colechristensen 10y ago
Wow, for exactly this reason I now have no interest in applying. GitLab went from meh to awesome over the last few years but for my city the compensation is just wrong. I'm not interested in applying to have that fight later (or being paid 20-40k under market)
- ernstvn 10y ago
  Can you please email me at ernst@gitlab.com to let me know what city and role you're looking at?

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

jamie_ca 10y ago

On the bright side, it's seriously awesome that they're so transparent about salaries.

alantudyk 10y ago
That really depends on where you live :) Not so bright, If you are living in a country which has a low rent index. The calculation is really messed up, rent index should be a contributor not a multiplier.
- sashagitlab 10y ago
  Hey there! Thanks for the feedback. I'm part of the PeopleOps team at GitLab and we are always looking to improve our comp. calculator. We know it isn't perfect yet and we need feedback from everyone to create the most fair and accurate compensation calculator for everyone. If you want to share your experience and suggestions with me, I'd be happy to chat with you directly and share them with our internal compensation committee. Feel free to email me at sasha@gitlab.com !
  - vilya 10y ago
    I like that you guys are being open about this, but the way you calculate compensation leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth. I very much dislike the idea that you, as an employer, are deciding what proportion of their income your employees should be spending on rent. You're also effectively saying that work done by someone who lives in a cheaper location is less valuable to the company than the same work done by someone who lives in a more expensive location. Maybe all employers do this and the only difference is that you guys are being honest about it, but still... yuck.
    - nstart 10y ago
      As someone who works remotely in a company that does take location into account, I can understand their perspective. I think there's a base value for work and then depending on the power of each dollar earned, there are multipliers to that that eventually give you your final salary. So it's "value of work" * location based spending power differences. Value of work stays constant. That said I do think the factors used to calculate the salary can improve. In general, I love the idea of thinking of quality of life. Can a person in Sri Lanka enjoy a similar quality of life as a person in SF at least in terms of factors that can be controlled (a company can't control the quality of public transport or municipalities for example in a given location but can provide me the opportunity to purchase experiences or work around those matters). And that matters because although rent in Sri Lanka is lower than Brisbane, buying groceries is actually more expensive. Buying electronics is certainly more expensive because of the enormous markups and taxes. Compared to a location in the US, I pay nearly triple the value of a given electronics item at times just for the cost of shipping it and then paying customs. Even travel becomes more expensive since I have much more lengthy Visa processes to go through. These numbers eventually add up and while I can save huge amounts of money by living frugally, if I wanted to live a good life supporting my wife and child, the number should be ideally 60k USD and above rather than 38k. Should mention that Software engineers are considered to be some of the lowest level fodder in Sri Lanka and our good salaries can be something like 12-15k per year. Starting salaries would be something ridiculous like 3k USD per year (that was mine). But that's also why so many people are migrating to australia, US, and canada asap if they can.
      - vilya 10y ago
        Doesn't it bother you that you can provide the same value to your employer as someone in Brisbane, but only get paid a fraction as much for it merely because you're in Sri Lanka? I'm a remote worker too (and I'm very happy with the way my current employer handles it). As long as I'm available at the times and places my employer needs me to be, why should they have any say in where I live or how I spend my money? I want to be able to manage my quality of life myself, not have it decided for me by someone else!

guessmyname 10y ago

I live in Valenzuela, Philippines and can attest that the cost of life is very cheap here, I am not surprised that the compensation is lower. What I wonder is what happens if you get hired while working from the Philippines and then move to a more expensive city like New York, or vice-versa. Will GitLab change the salary automatically? Because one could easily create a bank account in the US and live in a cheap country and there is no need to disclose that information.

ernstvn 10y ago
If you relocate, then yes, that affects compensation. This is described in more detail on https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/#relocation https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/#relocat...

ernstvn 10y ago

We're working on a global compensation framework, to be open and fair about compensation for everyone that works at GitLab. It's described in more detail on https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/global-compensation-framework/ https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/global-c... . The local rent index (+ a fixed 0.25), NYC benchmark, level, and experience all play in to the compensation. Having the calculator has allowed us to make offers to people in lots of new locations. I'm always looking for ways to keep it robust (i.e. as simple as possible) while being fair as well. If you have specific ideas on how to improve it, please send me an email on ernst@gitlab.com

alantudyk 10y ago
If you are really serious about being fair. Ask yourself this question: Why would a guy who can easily get 6K+ USD per month by working on Upwork, Toptal work for Gitlab for 1/3rd of that money and that too Full time? A quick google search will show you that people use 30% of their salary towards their rent: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=rent+as+percentage+of+salary https://www.google.co.in/search?q=rent+as+percentage+of+sala... What does that tell you about computing salaries based off of rent? You can see a lot of people discussing Gitlab's salary in a negative way on HN: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=gitlab%20salary&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?query=gitlab%20salary&sort=byPopular... Most of them have fluff responses talking about being open and fair.
- ernstvn 10y ago
  We are serious about being fair :-) Regarding using the rent index; that was a data-driven decision as described on https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/global-compensation-framework/#how-was-it-developed https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-operations/global-c... but as I mentioned, it is a work-in-progress just like everything else at GitLab always is, and I'm open to alternatives / ideas.
  - zoobab 10y ago
    Just run a simulation for Belgium, you are way below the average.

discordianfish 10y ago

While I appreciate the transparency, I don't think such large salary differences are reasonable especially with remote work. In the end you compete globally for remote employees and it possible to work remote for SV companies and get somewhat similar salaries than the onsite employees. ...and of course is living much more expensive in SV but I don't see why that should be "subsidized". No harm in people realizing that it's freaking crazy to pay that much rent.

StavrosK 10y ago
Holy hell, you aren't joking. I compared my city with SF in their calculator, and they pay 3,6 times more for someone in SF! That means I can get a $160k rise just by moving to SF! This seems super duper broken.
- guessmyname 10y ago
  You will also spend 3,6 times more money while living in San Francisco.
  - nothrabannosir 10y ago
    The price is that high for a reason: sf has a lot to offer. Networking opportunities, job market liquidity (see all the ONSITE SF posts in this very thread), etc. Perhaps not 3.6 more, but it definitely beats a cabin in the Siberian tundra. By correcting for rent, you give people that advantage for free. That's why it's unfair.
    - NonEUCitizen 10y ago
      The way to deal with their unfairness is to refuse to work for them (unless you're in SF!)
      - arihantar 10y ago
        Trust me on that I am working with GitLab from past 6 months and I have never regretted a day. GitLab is always open for ideas and this is also work in progress. How many companies have you seen declaring their compensation framework :)

colechristensen 10y ago

Wow, for exactly this reason I now have no interest in applying. GitLab went from meh to awesome over the last few years but for my city the compensation is just wrong. I'm not interested in applying to have that fight later (or being paid 20-40k under market)

ernstvn 10y ago
Can you please email me at ernst@gitlab.com to let me know what city and role you're looking at?