A Blog by Jonathan Low

 

Dec 16, 2012

Do Facebook's Interns Make More Money Than You?

Are you going to be seriously bummed out to learn that some 19 year old who hasnt finished his or her college degree makes $25,000 more than you and the rest of the 'average' US workforce?

Then this article is not for you.

OK, if you're still with us, heavily medicated or not, let's be analytical for a moment before we get really resentful. Software coding talent is not randomly distributed across the population. In fact, a lot of the most skilled with experience on the most up-to-date technology just happen to skew younger than the global demographic profile.

To Facebook and lots of other tech companies, this is inexpensive labor. A variable cost. Insignificant in the greater scheme of billion dollar valuations and billion user markets. And they are not being hired to manage anything larger than a keyboard. So chill. Why not pay up for the best, even if their life experience may not match their technological virtuosity? In Facebook's case, the company was founded by people exactly this age - or younger.

That experience, for many, doesn't deliver greater rewards is annoying. But console yourself with the thought that not all of them will be hired full time. Some will have hateful bosses. A few will decide to pursue their bliss as pilotes instructors. A bunch will move back to China or India. Others will remain software coders for the rest of their lives. Is that really you?

So the point is, the global economy pays for what it perceives to be value at various times in various places. The wheel of fortune may land on your number later than it did for others. Like your growth spurt in 10th grade or the end of your acne problem. It does help to be useful at something that someone other than your roommate needs. Start thinking. JL

Will Oremus reports in Slate:
What's so great about Facebook? In a video Glassdoor made to celebrate the company's award (embedded below), employees cited things like their coworkers' passion for the job and their commitment to the company's mission of making the world a more open and connected place. The video also shows employees playing ping-pong, walking on a treadmill while working on a laptop, and surveying the vast offerings of a cushy snack lounge. "I am constantly inspired by the people that I work with every day, and the caliber of talent all concentrated in one place brings on, like, this infectious energy," says Melody Quintana, a Facebook content strategist.

OK, so it's not about the money. But, just curious... What about the money?
Turns out that's not too shabby either. Glassdoor estimates that the average Facebook product manager makes $132,000 a year, while software engineers take in $114,000. Ah, but what about the poor interns that the company surely exploits for some cheap coding help? Oh, they make between $5,600 and $6,300 a month—the equivalent of $65,000 to $75,000 a year. Yes, the interns. As Business Insider notes, that's some $25,000 more than the average American worker.

That might sound outrageous, but those sorts of intern wages are not unique to Facebook. Top software-engineering talent has been at a premium for years, and Facebook is competing for the best of the best with companies like Google, which pay just as much. And lest you think it's just the tech industry that pays top dollar for promising greenhorns, those numbers are also in line with the average pay for summer analyst interns in the investment banking industry. Glassdoor reports that Citi, for instance, pays its i-banking interns a healthy $5,570 a month.

Facebook is the best place in America to work, according to the jobs site Glassdoor's Employee's Choice Awards. The Menlo Park-based company recaptured the top ranking after dropping from first to third last year. It was followed on this year's list by companies like McKinsey (second), Google (sixth), and In-N-Out Burger (ninth).

Moral of the story: Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be journalism interns.

Here are the top 10 places to work according to Glassdoor's employee's choice rankings:

Facebook
McKinsey & Company
Riverbed Technology
Bain & Company
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Google
Edelman
National Instruments
In-N-Out Burger
Boston Consulting Group

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