Magnificent 7: Meta Tops Tech Pay With a 379K Median Salary, 10X What Amazon Pays

Salaries often reflect company stature, market dominance, and employee value. The recent surge in tech stock values has led many companies to increase their salaries. Stocklytics.com has uncovered a notable contrast in compensation across significant tech firms. According to the site, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, tops the charts with a staggering median salary of $379,000, a figure that’s ten times what Amazon pays its median employees.

The site’s financial analyst, Edith Reads, comments:

The significant salary disparity between Meta and Amazon is largely due to the differing roles and expertise required by each company. Meta’s focus on cutting-edge technology, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and advanced data analytics, demands highly specialized skills. As such, the company is inclined to offer higher compensation packages to attract and retain top talent in these niche areas.

Stocklytics financial analyst, Edith Reads

Comparing Meta and Amazon: A Closer Look

Meta, known for its focus on advertising and advanced algorithms, stands out as a company with strong financial performance. This success allows Meta to prioritize investing in its employees by offering salaries and comprehensive benefits packages.

On the other hand, Amazon operates on a scale that employs a diverse range of professionals, from warehouse workers to software engineers. While Amazon has embraced technology and automation, its business strategy emphasizes efficiency and scalability, which can impact salary growth opportunities for many of its staff members. As a result, the median salary at Amazon reflects the variety of roles within the company that come with varying compensation levels.

Median Pay for Tech Companies

Tech giants Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Alphabet have capitalized on their product sales, with their market cap collectively surpassing $1.4 trillion in May 2024, superseding 296 other stocks in the S&P 500.

The rise in stock has potentially been profitable for companies and their employees, as most of these tech companies have augmented salary payments. Meta leads the charge, with the highest median pay, about six times more than the set National median pay, culminating in a 28% climb in 2022-2023.

Alphabet follows it closely, paying its workers over $315000, with at least three office days. Nvidia comes in third with a median pay of $266,939 and about $300 million in value given to its workers under the employee stock purchase in 2023. 

The chip maker also incorporated an unlimited vacation policy and more than five months of paid parental leave into its employee benefits, underscoring its efforts to improve employees’ welfare.

Microsoft and Apple take the fourth and fifth slots, with about $193,770 and $94,118 in median pay, respectively. However, these two companies represent some of the highest-paid CEOs, surpassing Meta and Alphabet. Apple pays its CEO an astounding $63.2M, and Microsoft’s CEO scoops in at about $48.5M, beating Meta’s  $24.4M payment in 2023.

Tesla, in contrast, has a reputation for paying its CEOs astoundingly more than its employees. However, its median salary falls behind the others by huge margins. Tesla’s median pay is $45,811, almost 300 times less than the CEO’s.

What Does Higher Pay Mean for Meta’s Future?

Like any of its competitors, Meta’s push to increase its employee benefits places it in a substantial position to acquire top-tier talents. In the acknowledged tech wars with AI advancements and cloud developments, tech giants must recruit multiple talents to ensure they are ahead. About 26.5% of Meta’s current workforce have previously worked at another tech giant, claiming the most switch-offs among all other tech giants. Even Google is marching to increase its workforce, attracting about 24.15% of new talents. Meta’s concerted push to increase the average salaries will be a lure to potential new skills necessary for the growth of the tech firm.