Exposing The Brutal Reality of My Amazon Compensation Package

The Deceptive Layers of My $260,000 Compensation at AWS — An Insider’s Tale

Usman Aslam
4 min readFeb 9, 2024
Image Credit: George Marcel

Hey curious minds!

Today, I’m pulling back the curtain on the often-veiled world of tech compensation, where the elephant in the room is the figure on your paycheck.

I’m Usman, your guide through the layers of my post-AWS compensation saga, here to share insights and lessons that go beyond the numbers.

A Lucrative Package Awaits

In 2020, I embarked on a journey as a Senior Solutions Architect at AWS, enticed by the allure of a slightly over a $260,000 compensation package.

This sum included a base salary of $160,000, a sign-up bonus of $175,000 (split into $100,000 for year 1 and $75,000 for year 2), and an additional $300,000 in RSUs distributed over four years.

Breaking it down annually, my salary progression was projected as follows:

  • $260,000 in year 1
  • $270,000 in year 2
  • $280,000 in year 3
  • $280,000 in year 4

This transparent view provided a roadmap of the salary structure throughout the four-year period.

--

--

Usman Aslam
Usman Aslam

Written by Usman Aslam

Ex-Amazonian, Sr. Solutions Architect at AWS, 12x AWS Certified. ❤️ Tech, Cloud, Programming, Data Science, AI/ML, Software Development, and DevOps. Join me 🤝

Responses (37)