May 25, 2023 Benchmarks

What’s new?

• Updated salary, total cash, and equity benchmarks for all job areas and specializations
• Updated US geographic differentials for all metro areas
• New total cash compensation benchmarks for all roles (total cash compensation benchmarks are reflective of employees who receive both base salary and some form of variable compensation)
• 90th percentile data for all roles and elements of compensation. Users can now set their target market position and view 90th percentile data on the Bands page.

Market Trends

Salary and total cash compensation benchmarks have fallen slightly (approximately 1% overall) since last quarter, reflecting a continued down market for startup talent. We’re observing that new hire salaries across many roles are closer to or below our previous benchmarks, causing many salary benchmarks to decrease. On a role-by-role basis, we’re seeing a bit more volatility in this quarter’s data as compared to the last six months. As in previous updates, specialization-level data continues to be more volatile than the broader sample, as sample sizes for these roles are smaller than job area level data.

Equity benchmarks have decreased approximately 9%, less than last quarter’s 15%. Lower benchmarks cut across most roles and levels, though executive equity grants dropped slightly less, and even increased in some cases. 

Looking across updated geographic differential data, most metro areas that moved closer to San Francisco pay levels have maintained their differentials compared to last year. This year, we see more cities outside of traditional tech hubs also moving closer to San Francisco pay levels (in particular metro areas across North Carolina and Florida)

What were the largest areas of movement from these benchmarks?

Salary - Sales, Research, and Strategy roles saw the largest increases, approximately 1-5% versus last quarter. Marketing, Administration, and Project Management roles saw the largest decreases ranging from 5-6%. The decreases for Marketing and Administration are driven by corrections that we have made for how certain roles are being categorized within these job areas. Information Technology also saw a larger decrease, largely due to the small sample size for this job area.

Equity - Support, Human Resources, and Strategy roles saw the largest decreases. Decreases in Product, Finance, and Operations were less pronounced than the overall sample

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:

Visiting the Plan page and clicking on the "Update available" link in the Active Plan window.

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.

What’s next?

Carta Total Compensation is developing benchmarks for new specializations.

What’s new?

We’re excited to announce the release of three new specializations:

• Art & Graphic Design (within the Design job area)
• Product Management (within the Product job area)
• Social Media (within the Marketing job area)

Note: Our sample size for new specializations can be smaller than job area benchmarks, which could result in data volatility as we continue to update the data and grow our overall sample size. 

No other benchmarks have changed in this update.

How do I see benchmarks for the additional specializations?

You can view benchmarks for the new specializations by:

1. Visiting the Bands page and selecting “Design”, “Product”, or “Marketing” under Area. Once the job area is selected, you can select either the Art & Graphic Design, Product Management, or the Social Media specialization by selecting the Specialization dropdown.

1. This will allow you to view salary/equity bands for levels 1 - 8 for Art & Graphic Design or Product Management. For Social Media, data are available for levels 1-6.

1. The above process can be followed for each of the new specializations.

How do benchmarks for the additional 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 Art & Graphic Design, Product Management, and Social Media specializations will now be calculated using the target compensation for the specialization, not the job area.

How do I update my benchmark version to use new specializations?

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.

1. 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.

What’s next?

The Carta Total Compensation team is working on our Q2 benchmark refresh for all job areas and specializations

What’s new?

International salary and equity targets are now on both the company and employee Scorecards. This now enables users to easily compare non-US employee compensation to the market, similar to how comparisons are currently shown for US employees. International bands data continues to be available on the Bands page.

On the Company Scorecard, users can see a complete view of all employees. Users can toggle between local currency and USD by clicking the checkbox at the top.

View an Employee-level Scorecard by clicking into any employee for additional information on their salary and equity. By default, employee cash compensation and market targets will be shown in the employee’s local currency. Users can toggle between local currency and USD using the checkboxes at the top of the employee scorecards.

As Carta Total Compensation only supports equity granted in USD, net equity values on all scorecards will only be shown in USD.

How do I update my scorecards to show international salary and equity targets?

No action is needed. The scorecards will update automatically with the appropriate data.

What’s next?

Carta Total Compensation is developing benchmarks for new specializations.

What’s new?

We’re excited to announce the release of two new specializations:

• UX Design (within the Design job area)
• Logistics and Supply Chain (within the Operations job area)

Note: Our sample size for new specializations can be smaller than job area benchmarks, which could result in data volatility as we continue to update the data and grow our overall sample size. 

No other benchmarks have changed in this update.

How do I see benchmarks for the additional specializations?

You can view benchmarks for the new specializations by:

1. Visiting the Bands page and selecting “Design” or “Operations” under Area. Once the job area is selected, you can select either the UX Design or the Logistics and Supply Chain specialization by selecting the Specialization dropdown.

1. This will allow you to view salary/equity bands for levels 1 - 8 for either specialization.  
   
   
2. The above process can be followed for each of the new specializations.

How do benchmarks for the additional 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 UX Design and Logistics and Supply Chain specializations will now be calculated using the target compensation for the specialization, not the job area.

How do I update my benchmark version to use new specializations?

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.
   

1. 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.

What’s new?

Benchmarks version 2023-23-02

What changes can I expect from these benchmarks?

We have updated salary, total cash, and equity benchmarks for all job areas and specializations. 

Salary and total cash compensation benchmark changes in this release reflect a slowing market for talent among startups, falling slightly since last quarter (approximately 1% overall). As in previous updates, specialization level data continues to be more volatile than the broader sample, as sample sizes for these roles are smaller than job area level data. For example, while Web Engineering and Quality Assurance saw large increases last quarter, this quarter’s data shows decreases in those benchmarks. 

Equity benchmarks have decreased approximately 15%, consistent with the decreases that began last quarter as a result of the slowing market. Lower benchmarks cut across most roles and levels, though executive equity grants (particularly at early to mid-stage companies) dropped slightly less, and even increased in some cases. 

What were the largest areas of movement from these benchmarks?

Salary - Product, Support, and Operations roles saw the largest increases, approximately 1-2% versus last quarter. Sales, Administrative, and Information Technology roles saw the largest decreases ranging from 3-5%.

Equity - Legal, Support, and Human Resources roles saw the largest decreases. Decreases in Engineering, IT, Finance, and Operations were less pronounced than the overall sample

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.
   

1. 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.

What’s next?

Carta Total Compensation is working to bring International market targets to the Employee and Company Scorecards, as well as developing benchmarks for new specializations.

What’s new

Total Comp customers can now send Offer Letters in 140 international currencies. Candidates will be able to view their Offer Letter in their local currency. 

Get started 

How do I send an Offer Letter in a non-USD currency?

1. Navigate to the Current Offers page and click “Create Offer.”
2. In the “Compensation” section, select the correct currency for the candidate’s Offer Letter. Companies are still able to offer multiple packages for international offers.

3. Enter the Base salary in either the local currency or USD.

4. The Equity value can be entered in USD only. However, you will be able to see this displayed in the local currency selected as well when you preview the Offer Letter before sending it to the candidate.

5. Candidates will be able to view their Offer Letter in the selected local currency.  This includes their benefits, Offer Summary, and the Compensation Projection chart. 

Learn more

Visit the Carta Offer Letters resource center for more details.

Have additional questions about Carta Offer Letters? Reach out to your Account Manager or contact our Support Team.

What’s new?

We have two exciting updates now available in Carta Total Comp. You can now use: 

• International salary and equity adjustments on the Plan and Bands pages
• Total cash compensation benchmarks for the Customer Success job area

International adjustments

Users will now be able to view salary and equity benchmarks on the Bands page based on adjustments from our US benchmarks. In this initial release, users will have access to adjustments for 44 countries.

How do I see international adjustments?

You can view international adjustments by:

1. Visiting the Plan page and scrolling down to International Market Adjustments. This section will show you suggested adjustments for salary and equity across 45 countries. These suggested Adjustments are based on Carta data and our knowledge of local market practices.
   
2. You can override these suggested adjustments to better match your company’s comp philosophy. Click into them to edit, and save your new adjustment by clicking the check box.
   
3. Visit the Bands page to view the adjusted salary & equity benchmarks. Find any of the 45 countries by selecting it from the Location dropdown.
   

Total cash compensation benchmarks for Customer Success

Carta will now provide total cash compensation benchmarks for the Customer Success job area. Total cash compensation is defined as base salary plus target variable compensation. 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile data are accessible on the Bands page. No other benchmarks have changed in this update.

How do I see total cash compensation benchmarks for the Customer Success job area?

You can view Total Cash Compensation benchmarks for the Customer Success job area by:

1. Visiting the Bands page and selecting “Customer Success” under Area. 
2. Select “Total Cash” for compensation type.
   
   
3. This will allow you to view total cash compensation bands for levels 1 - 11 for the Customer Success job area.  
   
   

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 "Update" 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.

Learn more

Have additional questions? Reach out to your Account Manager or contact our Support Team.

What’s next?

Carta Total Comp is working on updated salary and equity benchmarks for all job areas and specializations.

What’s new?

We're introducing an easy way for new Carta Total Comp users to send their first offer letter in just a few clicks. With our new guided onboarding experience, you can get the most out of CTC immediately.

The setup guide will be marked as complete for users with Offer Letters already set up. 

Get started 

You must have "Full Admin" permissions to set up Offer Letters.

1. Navigate to the Offer Letters page and click “Get started.”
   
   
2. Complete the guided onboarding experience to personalize your Offer Letter for your company.
   
   
3. Once you complete your setup, all Admins, Area Leads, and Recruiters will be able to draft, preview, and send Offer Letters. 

Learn more

Visit the Carta Offer Letters resource center for more details.

If you have additional questions about Offer Letters? Please reach out to your Account Manager or contact our Support Team.

What’s new

CTC customers can now send Offer Letters to candidates with a simple URL link if they are not using Carta’s candidate acceptance flow. This will allow companies to send Offer Letters to candidates via an existing email thread with a candidate or additional signatory tool of their choosing. 

Get started 

How do I send an offer letter via link?

1. Navigate to the Offer Letters page
   
   
2. Draft, preview, and save an offer letter by clicking “Create new offer”.

 3. Once you have saved your offer letter, click “Copy link”, the URL can be pasted and shared to grant access to the published Offer Letter.

Learn more

Visit the Carta Offer Letters resource center for more details.

Have additional questions about Carta Offer Letters? Reach out to your Account Manager or contact our Support Team.

What’s new

All CTC customers can now save time by seamlessly previewing and sending Offer Letters straight from the Bands tab. 

• Companies who have configured the required settings for Offer Letters send Offer Letters faster with pre-filled job and compensation package details .
• For companies who have not configured Offer Letter settings, a preview of an Offer Letter with a recommended compensation package will be provided. Admins can always quickly configure Offer Letters settings in the Settings tab. 

Get started 

How do I send an Offer Letter from the Bands page?

Here’s how to get started: 

1. Navigate to the Bands page.

2. Click on the Job Breakdown for a particular Role.

3. Click “Create offer” to be shown a preview offer letter with a recommended compensation package based on your company’s Plan information, specific for that Role.

4. Companies who have already configured the required Offer Letter settings will be redirected to the “Create New Offer” page with pre-filled salary and Role information.

Companies who have not configured the required Offer Letter settings will be shown a preview of an Offer Letter for the specific Role. Admins can click “Send your first offer” to be guided on how to configure the required Offer Letter settings before sending your company’s first Carta Offer Letter.

Learn more

Visit the Carta Offer Letters resource center for more details.

Have additional questions about Carta Offer Letters? Reach out to your Account Manager or contact our Support Team.