Speaking as a Google engineer: There are three components to compensation here. Base salary, annual cash bonus, and stock grants. When he says he "takes home" $250k, he probably means the sum of all three. When the author says he thought the average Google salary was $130k, he might be referring just to the base.
Most of the comments in this thread are similarly ambiguous. If you post a comment, please be clear about whether you're talking about base or total compensation!
Without wanting to sound stupid, when you talk about salaries do you always mention the amount before or after tax? Here in Europe it's almost always after tax.
In Portugal, it depends: if you are on a contract then it's after tax, if you are not on a contract (think consultant) it's before tax. This happens because most people have no idea that the other side receives only the net wage and vice-versa.
I'm Belgian too. So if your Brut salary is 3k and your Net 1.5K you say during discussions that you make 3K? Everyone I know does the opposite.
EDIT: Actually I see what you mean. In the above scenario I would never tell a friend I make 3K but during salary discussions and in writing I guess you would quote the Brut.
Really? In Finland we always discuss salaries as in before personal tax. This amount is a bit less than the company pays though, because they pay a part as social security compensations etc.
It can differ by principality / state. Personally, I live in New Jersey and work in New York City, so I have to pay income taxes to TWO states, whereas my best friend in Florida doesn't pay any income tax at all. It's subjective and skews numbers, also you can't negotiate after-tax pay with your employer.
yes and no. Some just don't check their balance as they don't care about 100 or 150 euros a month.
what makes it a bit more complicated too (not complete, i am sure there are other reasons as well):
we get paid at least 14 times a year, where the non-monthly payouts have a completely different taxing. my father working for a bank gets paid 16 times a year plus a bonus once or twice a year.
also, once you have paid a certain amount for your social security, you don't pay it at all anymore, skewing your net wage.
it might be that the employer miscalculated your net wage and you might have to pay the IRS at the end of the year (or if you are lucky, you get money back)
Most of the comments in this thread are similarly ambiguous. If you post a comment, please be clear about whether you're talking about base or total compensation!