Technology graduates still cleaning up with salaries despite sector turmoil

The nation’s exorbitant tech salaries, with graduate software engineers earning up to $350,000 a year, have survived the ongoing turmoil in the sector with widespread layoffs.

IMC graduates, from left, Kenwa, Caleb, Mark, Jasmine and Matthew will earn a $200,000 total compensation as graduates. Picture: John Feder

The nation’s exorbitant tech salaries, with graduate software engineers earning up to $350,000 a year, have survived the ongoing tech turmoil amid some companies laying off as much as 16 per cent of staff.

Some big tech companies and trading firms say they have taken grad salaries back to the drawing board and are likely to consider inflation and interest rate rises in next year’s wages.

IMC is one of 10 companies ­reported by The Australian as paying between $147,000 and $350,000 to graduate tech staff.

Head of human resources Jade Olsson said IMC was considering whether its 2022 graduate salary – a $200,000 total compensation package including a $125,000 base, $25,000 sign-on bonus and $50,000 guaranteed variable ­remuneration – was competitive.

“We’re undertaking market benchmarking to determine our approach for the year ahead,” Ms Olsson said.

The Australian first reported the huge amounts being paid to tech graduates in May, using data Envited co-founder Mihailo Bozic had compiled from US salary tracker levels.fyi. The website has become increasingly popular among young tech workers.

The 10 highest-paying companies of graduate salaries – most of which included sign-on and end-of-year bonuses, as well as stock options – were Akuna Capital, Atlassian, Google, IMC, Jane Street, Microsoft, Canva, Amazon, Optiver and Kearney.

The median salary of an Australian worker is $62,400 and it is not until a worker exceeds $91,000, or $1748 a week, that they are considered an above-average earner, according to the Bureau of Statistics.

IMC hired 40 graduate workers and 50 interns on its $125,000 base salary in 2022 across the roles of trader, software engineer, hardware engineer and site reliability engineer, also known as trading system engineers. Interns were paid a pro-rata rate on a 10-week program.

Ms Olsson said IMC’s high salaries were reflective of a gap in the mid-to-senior market for tech workers.

“The talent at an experienced level in Australia for senior hires is really tight and we often need to go internationally to find that talent,” she said. “For us being able to build a pipeline locally of graduate talent – it’s a no-brainer.”

Despite the high salaries, graduates were not “flashy” and many still turned up to work in T-shirts and hoodies, Ms Olsson said.

“Even though we do have candidates coming in on very high base salaries, we aren’t seeing that affect our culture,” she said.

Tech-driven trading firm Optiver – which pays graduates a total package of $250,000 and interns $175,000 pro-rata – will amp up its graduate and intern cohort to 140 new staff next year. Local head of recruitment John Rogan said that was an increase of about 40 per cent.

“Offering Australian and New Zealand graduates these types of innovative opportunities is necessary for us to remain competitive within our industry, as we are not just competing with tech and finance companies in the region, but we’re also vying for the same talent with overseas firms offering similar remuneration packages and additional benefits,” Mr Rogan said.

He said the salaries were reflective of international competition and an incentive to stay and work locally. The next cohort of graduates would be flown to ­Europe on a company training exercise, he said.

“In order to encourage Australian STEM talent to stay here in Australia, we need to offer them attractive and globally competitive salaries and development opportunities that reflect the global demands for their skills and expertise,” he said.

Google ANZ staff lead Sophie Richardson said the firm would welcome a number of interns to its office next month, but would not confirm the figure. The Australian’s data showed Google software engineer graduates received a total package of $200,000.

“We employ over 2000 people in Australia and face strong competition for talent, so we need to ensure our people are very well compensated,” Ms Richardson said.

A spokesman from Canva, which according to the data paid graduates a $173,000 package, would not comment on the salary directly, but confirmed the salary had not been negatively affected by the current market.

The Australian can confirm Canva pays its interns a salary of $78,500 pro-rata on a 12-week full-time program which will begin in November.

A spokeswoman from Atlassian – which pays graduates about $200,000 – said the company had hired 142 graduates and 152 interns across who would begin work in January across its Australia and New Zealand offices. The company recently took to the road in its latest recruitment push, driving an RV from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast in search of 1032 new engineers.

A spokeswoman from global management consulting firm Kearney confirmed graduates next would again be paid $147,000 inclusive of bonuses and that a cohort of 50 graduates and interns would be brought on board in 2023.

Originally published as Technology graduates still cleaning up with salaries despite sector turmoil