There is a spreadsheet making the rounds in boardrooms right now. On one line: the fully-loaded cost of a senior software engineer. On the other: what it costs to run a coding model that writes the same kind of code. The gap looks enormous, and it is driving real decisions about real people. The problem is that the spreadsheet is measuring the wrong two things.
Let me run the actual numbers, because the headline comparison is seductive and mostly wrong.
The number on the left
A senior software engineer in the US has a median total compensation around $250K, base plus bonus and equity, and at top-tier firms it clears $300K. Then add what the employee never sees: employer payroll taxes, benefits, equipment, the recruiter who found them. The fully-loaded cost the company actually carries runs higher still. Call it $250K for a conservative working number.
The number on the right
