Benchmarks 2022-06-16

What changes can I expect from these benchmarks?

This version resolves an issue with level progression in the benchmark version released on 2022-06-09. If you did not update to the 2022-06-09 benchmarks you were not impacted by this bug. There are no other changes to benchmarks or specializations in this release.

Carta will now provide salary + equity benchmarks for the following engineering specializations:

• AI and Machine Learning
• Hardware
• Mobile
• Web Engineering

In addition, benchmarks data has been refreshed for the following existing engineering specializations:

• DevOps and Site Reliability
• Quality Assurance
• UX/Frontend

Note that for all of our specializations the sample size is smaller than job area benchmarks which could result in data volatility as we continue to update the data and grow our overall sample size.

What were the largest areas of movement from these benchmarks?

For existing specializations, salaries increased an average of approximately 3% compared to the previous version of the benchmarks. The largest increases are generally concentrated at more senior levels and in higher valuation peer groups. We also observed some decreases in the salary benchmarks, mostly at levels 1 and 2 at valuations below $50 million. While some of these changes are driven by market dynamics, some of the change is driven by the limited sample size for these roles. Equity benchmarks also reflect a mix of increases and decreases compared to the last benchmark version which are also being driven by a combination of market dynamics and sample size.

How do I update my plan to use the new benchmarks version?

You can update your compensation plan to use the latest benchmark versions either by:

1. Visiting the Plan page and clicking on the "Update available" link in the Active Plan window.
   
   
2. Navigating to the Bands page and clicking on the "Update" bubble in the top left.

You will have the opportunity to preview the new plan with the updated benchmarks version and assess their impact on your scorecard before accepting the new plan.

How can I assign an employee to a specialization?

You can assign an employee to an engineering specialization by: 

1. Visiting the Employee Scorecard page for a particular employee and selecting “Edit” next to the employee’s role and then selecting “Job area and level” on the Update details page.

1. Select the “Specialization” dropdown to assign an employee to one of the listed specializations.
   
   

Note: specialization benchmarks are currently limited to AI and Machine Learning. DevOps + Site Reliability, Hardware, Mobile, Quality Assurance, UX/Frontend, and Web Engineering for the engineering job area.

How do I see benchmarks for engineering specializations?

You can view benchmarks for engineering specializations by:

1. Visiting the Bands page and selecting “Engineering” under Area. Once the engineering job area is selected, you can change the engineering specializations by selecting the Specialization dropdown.
   
   

How do engineering specializations affect the Employee Scorecard?

The compa-ratio is a quick way to compare an employee's compensation to your plan's target rate for a given job area, level, and location. The compa-ratios for an employee assigned to the AI and Machine Learning, Hardware, Mobile, and Web Engineering specializations will now be calculated using the target compensation for the specializations.

What’s next?

Additional functionality around data transparency that will provide users insight into the underlying data used to generate benchmarks in Carta Total Compensation.