Should Designers be Paid the Same as Engineers? | Andy Budd

"When the idea came to light in Cameron Moll's LinkedIn post that designers at Notion get paid the same as engineers, LinkedIn lit up with applause. Finally, some validation! "Design is just as important as engineering - of course we should be paid the same." But here's the uncomfortable truth: salaries aren't set by fairness. If they were, teachers and nurses would be paid a lot more than they are, and hedge fund managers would almost certainly be paid a lot less."

"Designers love to argue from principle. We see ourselves as equal partners, so it feels only right we should be compensated equally. But if fairness is the logic, why stop at engineers? Should designers and product managers be paid the same? Should QA testers - without whom nothing ships - be on equal footing? What about marketers, who often earn less than designers but make sure your work actually reaches an audience?"

Salaries are set by market forces and the business value and responsibility a role carries, not by fairness. Compensation reflects how much a role can generate, protect, or multiply value for a business and how much accountability it holds. Designers often advocate for equal pay with engineers, but equal pay across roles ignores supply-and-demand dynamics and market benchmarks. Five factors drive compensation: supply and demand, market benchmarks, negotiation leverage, business value delivered, and leadership accountability. Equal pay for all roles resembles corporate collectivism and is rare in practice. Employers balance scarcity, candidate leverage, expected impact, and fiscal prudence when setting pay.

Read at Andybudd