Average total annual cash comp varied by role and company stage, while average initial equity grant values were up YoY across the board
San Francisco, CA., March 23, 2023 – Riviera Partners, a global executive search firm specializing in placements in technology, product, and design, has released its bi-annual series of compensation reports detailing trends in hiring over the last year. In addition to an overview of various roles, additional information is available broken down by positions and size of the company, including venture-backed and private-equity backed, as well as public companies.
“As tech layoffs have begun to shift the dynamics in the labor market overall, we have seen slight shifts in compensation and offers for placements over the last year. We are keeping a close eye on how this dynamic continues to evolve,” said Will Hunsinger, CEO of Riviera Partners.
The full report, including specifics on cash and equity compensation, can be requested here: https://www.rivierapartners.com/compensation-report/
The following compensation breakdowns are available:
- Engineering Overview
- Product Overview
- Venture-Backed
- Engineering
- Product & Design
- Private Equity-Backed
- Engineering (VP and CXO level) – includes CTO, CISO, CIO, and others
- Product & Design (VP and CXO level)
- Public Companies
- VP of Engineering
- Director of Engineering
- VP of Product
- Director of Product
Overall Highlights
Average total annual cash comp was up 2% YoY for director-level roles, with more established companies with a market cap at $1B+ and Public companies up 15% and 8%, respectively. For the VP level, average total cash comp was down 1%; for CXOs, cash comp was down 4% YoY. Average initial equity grant values were up YoY across the board, 9% for the Director level, 17% for VP level, and 35% for C level.
Engineering
On the engineering front overall (across all company stages), average total annual cash compensation was down 2% with salaries for more senior roles (CXO/SVP and VP/Head) down 2 and 4%, respectively but up significantly for director level roles (15%). Likewise, annual bonuses were down 17%, with a significant drop in value for more senior roles (23% and 29%, respectively), but a 12% increase for director-level roles. Overall, the value of sign-on bonuses grew close to 30%, and the value of initial equity grants as a % of the company’s valuation grew 46%, with more senior roles growing even more significantly.
Given the volume of layoffs in big tech since Jan 1, 2022, it’s not surprising that annual cash comp is down, but the upside in equity in offers grew. Strong sign-on bonuses indicate a market that still is competitive with talent in high demand.
Product
On the product & design front overall (across all company stages), average total cash compensation climbed 9% YoY, with salaries down but annual bonuses up. Salaries of the most senior roles were down 7% and VPs and Heads were down 1%. Like in engineering, director-level role salaries climbed (8%). Annual bonuses grew 12% overall with SVP and CXO bonuses growing 17% but VP/Heads and director level bonuses dropped. Value of sign-on bonuses dropped 18%, with director-level role sign-on bonuses 70% lower than last year. Value of equity grants as a % of company valuations were also down 7% for product roles.
To request the report, click here: https://www.rivierapartners.com/compensation-report/.
