Where do Engineers Earn $800,000 a Year?

Who are the tech industry’s most valued engineers? Well, that’s a supply-and-demand-based question. When hundreds of workers threatened to quit OpenAI when Sam Altman was fired, it became clear that this group of engineers is as irreplaceable as you can get.

While the range for engineering jobs on OpenAI’s website is $200,000 to $370,000, more specialized jobs range from $300,000 to $450,000, according to compensation benchmarking firm Comprehensive.io. These ranges are bare bones, without bonuses or stock awards. Once added in, these benefits raise an annual salary of $300,000 to nearly $800,000 in total compensation.

Had it actually taken place, the departure of so many engineers at OpenAI would have been catastrophic. Given the rapid pace of the technology, experienced staff is limited. It’s challenging to train and recruit valuable engineers. It’s mandatory that they be retained.

OpenAI staff had job offers waiting. Before Altman was reinstated, Microsoft Corp. opened the doors at Microsoft’s AI research lab. Microsoft owns approximately 49% of OpenAI.