sharing my numbers from a recent HP offer, declined but the data is useful:
Role: Senior Software Engineer, L5 equivalent Location: Austin, TX (hybrid 3 days/week) Base: $158k Annual bonus target: 10% of base RSUs: $120k total, 4-year vest, 1-year cliff Signing bonus: $15k
all-in first year was roughly $185k. for Austin that's competitive for the market but probably 15-20% below what hyperscalers pay for a comparable level. HP doesn't do refreshes the way FAANG does, so if you're coming from Amazon or Google that's something to model out over 4 years. i tried to negotiate and got $5k more on base and an extra $10k signing. they said the RSU number was fixed. YMMV.
4 replies
contractor_kai
the no-refresh thing is worth modeling carefully. if you're 4 years in and the stock hasn't moved much and you have no refreshes queued, you're effectively at a pay cut in year 5 unless you're promoted or you leave. HP isn't unique in this but it's not as visible as the base number.
market_realist
that base is basically what i'm seeing across legacy tech right now. HP, Dell, HPE, IBM all cluster in that $150-165k range for senior ICs in non-coastal markets. you're paying a stability premium and losing the upside. different trade-off for different life stages.
ds_dmitri
do you know if DS/MLE comp bands are similar or do they pay more for those functions? i've heard HP has been trying to build out data science but i don't know if the comp followed.
numbers_only
don't have direct data for DS/MLE. anecdotally i heard from someone in my loop that ML roles were getting a small premium, maybe $10-15k more on base, but i can't confirm that. worth asking the recruiter directly, they're usually pretty open about band ranges.