As AI Talent Wars rages, Google and other tech giants are firing the top dollar to unleash their best talent.
Google has long been respected within Silicon Valley for its generous compensation package. Its deep mind unit also relied on British offensive non-competitors.
At the same time, Google has made changes to its compensation process in recent months as others in the tech industry, such as Meta and Microsoft, are trying to eliminate low performance.
In April, the search giant changed the way employees ranked in annual performance reviews. The compensation director told staff in the memo that Business Insider previously reported “higher performance is more important than ever.”
While Google keeps payroll data secret, public WorkVISA data gives you a glimpse into how much you pay for a particular role. The numbers are derived from applications that all companies submit to the Labor Bureau to obtain work visas for foreign workers.
Through this process, Google employs thousands of software engineers, and data shows that it can command as much as $340,000.
It is worth noting that these numbers only reflect salary and do not take into account the fairness or bonuses that Google employees receive.
In 2023, BI obtained an internal spreadsheet. There, thousands of Googlers self-reported their salaries in 2022, including stocks and bonus data. Despite the relatively high amounts, many said they still feel their pay is low.
Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Based on roughly 6,800 applications since the first quarter of 2025, here are what Google is paying for in its main role:
Business and Analyst Role: Financial Analysts Can Earn Over $200,000
Account Manager: $85,500 to $166,000
Business Systems Analyst: $141,000 to $201,885
Financial Analyst: $102,000 to $225,230
Search Quality Analyst: $120,000 to $235,000
Engineering role: Google Software Engineers can take home $340,000
Google-owned Waymo software engineers may be paid between $150,000 and $282,000. Reuters
Application Engineer: $138,000 to $199,000
Customer Engineer: $85,009.60-$228,000
Customer Solutions Engineer: $108,000 to $228,000
Data Engineer: $111,000 to $175,000
Electrical Engineer: $119,000 to $203,000
Hardware Engineer: $130,000 to $284,000
Network Engineer: $108,000 to $195,000
Research Engineers: $153,000 to $265,000
Related Stories
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Security Engineer: $97,000 to $233,000
Senior Software Engineer: $187,000 to $253,000
Silicon Design Verification Engineer: $126,000 to $207,050
Silicon Engineer: $146,000 to $252,000
Silicon Generalists: $144,000 to $223,000
Software Engineer: $109,180 to $340,000
Software Engineer (WAYMO): $150,000 to $282,000
Software Engineer Manager: $199,000 to $316,000
Software Engineers, Site Reliability Engineers: $133,000 to $258,000
Staff Software Engineer: $220,000 to $323,000
Scientist’s Role: Research Scientists Can Earn $303,000
Data Scientists: $133,000 to $260,000
Research Scientists: $155,000 to $303,000
Role Management: Google’s top speed product manager can earn $280,000
Product Manager: $136,000 to $280,000
Program Manager: $125,000 to $236,000
Technical Program Manager: $116,000 to $270,000
Consulting role: Solution consultants can earn up to $282,000
Solution Consultant: $100,000-$282,000
Technical Solutions Consultant: $110,000 to $253,000
Design role: Google’s UX designers can pocket $230,000
UX Designer: $124,000 to $230,000
UX Researcher: $124,000 to $224,000
