California Pay Transparency Reveals Big Tech Salaries

Gizmodo took a look at the salaries of several open positions at Apple, Meta and Tesla in California. Image: Apple Campus in Cupertino, Justin Sullivan (Getty Images), Facebook Headquarters in Menlo Park, Justin Sullivan (Getty Images), Tesla Factory in Fremont, Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)

California’s wage transparency law officially went into effect on January 1, forcing companies to disclose the wages they pay their workers. As such, the curtain is being drawn on the mystery behind the money flowing through some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies.

Last September, California Governor Gavin Newsom officially signed Senate Bill 1162, which requires California companies with more than 15 employees to post a position’s salary on their job posting. Likewise, current employees can request the pay scale of their position from the company.

New York City passed a similar wage transparency law earlier this year, with only minor hiccups, and New York State has also signed a statewide wage transparency law. Senate Bill 1162 was designed specifically to address gender pay gaps, according to quotes from Governor Newsom, but an unintended side effect of the state’s transparency law is that it now shines a light on how some of the nation’s largest companies technology in the world pay their workers.

Gizmodo took a look at three random job openings each from Meta, Apple, and Tesla to find out how much these companies are paying for various positions. While job posting websites like Indeed provide salary estimates, these salary ranges are likely to be more accurate since they are straight from the horse’s mouth.

California-based jobs at Meta pay:

Software Engineer (Lead) – Meta Product requires 12+ years of programming experience and 8+ years of experience with web or mobile technologies: $205,000 to $281,000 per year; Data Scientist, Machine Learning at Facebook requires at least a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Statistics, related technical field, or equivalent practical experience and a minimum of 8 years of experience (minimum 6 years with Ph.D.): $197,000 to $269,000 in year; The Research Scientist, Computer Vision and Machine Learning Internship for Messenger requires that the applicant either has or is in the process of obtaining a Ph.D. and Meta says internships last anywhere from 12-24 weeks: $7,313 to $10,250 per month.

G/O Media may receive a commission

California-based jobs at Apple pay:

Shipping, Receiving and Mail Handling requires 5+ years of experience in a fast-paced shipping, receiving and mail team or similar environment: $29.04 to $43.59 per hour (60,403.20 to 90,667, $20 per year assuming a 40 hour work week for 52 weeks); The Display Technologist “generally requires” a Ph.D. or a master’s degree with more than 5 years of experience in the relevant field: $113,500 and $207,000 per year; The WiFi Quality Engineer is an entry-level position that requires at least two years of experience with 802.11 and/or Bluetooth protocols and software quality assurance methodologies and practices and requires only a Bachelor’s degree: $113,500 and $171,000 per year.

California-based jobs at Tesla pay:

Solar, lead roof maintenance requires general hardware and electrical expertise, along with customer service skills and a valid driver’s license: $14.63 to $52.62 per hour ($30,430.40 to $109,449.60 dollars per year assuming a 40-hour work week for at least 52 more weeks); years of auto refinishing experience and must be 18 or older: $18.24 to $82.08 per hour ($37,939.20 to $170,726.40 assuming a 40-hour work week for 52 weeks); The Associate Quality Engineer requires an undergraduate degree in a technical or engineering field. willingness to travel: $57,600 to $309,600 per year.

The salary range for some of the positions is comically massive, which probably doesn’t bode well for potential employees if they’re offered a job on the low end. But this gives the company and job seekers room to negotiate. Each of these corporations had hundreds of jobs in California alone, and Gizmodo looked at a few more from each company. On the surface, Meta seemed to offer fewer entry-level positions than Apple and Tesla. Tesla, meanwhile, appears to be leaning more toward hourly-paying positions on a year-over-year basis. And while Tesla has positioned itself as a technology company, there has recently been a backlash among investors, labeling it a carmaker, not a technology firm.