Why business analysts and project managers get higher salaries than programmers?

Re:Why business analysts and project managers get higher sal... by edw519 on Thursday February 10, 2011 @07:58AM (#2201750)

Not anywhere I've ever worked.

Hmmm, makes me wonder about this meme...

  1. Ask why a myth is true.
  2. Discussion ensues.
  3. The mythiness gets lost and is accepted as a given.

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Re:Why business analysts and project managers get higher sal... by sudonim on Thursday February 10, 2011 @09:16AM (#2201996)

I second this. I'm the product person at a startup w/ 5 devs. I know for a fact that rails developers in NY generally command a higher salary than I am making. I can't speak about their equity situation.

My responsibilities are to decide what we build and why. I'm also the shit umbrella for the developers, and end up having to speak with clients. Ultimately it's me who is held responsible for the success / failure of the product.

The myth of project / product people being paid more may be true in LargeCorp, Inc. but in Startup LLC., the developer is king.

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Re:Why business analysts and project managers get higher sal... by sdm on Thursday February 10, 2011 @10:26AM (#2202178)

I third it. Actually in every company I've worked at -- startup, midsized, fortune 500 -- a pm or analyst makes less than an engineer at the same experience level. It's always much harder to find good engineers, especially now a days.

The confusion might come from large companies where PMs tend to be more senior to a lot of the development team. But once a engineer matures and gains experince they will pass them. I my experience, it's very common to make more than the person who manages you.

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Re:Why business analysts and project managers get higher sal... by portman on Thursday February 10, 2011 @10:46AM (#2202257)

+1. At all of the companies I've worked (where I've been privy to compensation numbers), the PMs consistently earn less than the engineers.

From my experience - I'm basing this on approximately 80 positions at 4 different companies - PMs are paid $55k - $80k while engineers/developers are paid $75k - $140k.

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