© Unsplash/JESHOOTS.COM
Employee salaries in the startup ecosystem reflect market reality. In 2024, salespeople and marketing managers saw their compensation increase the most, according to a study conducted by Figures for Les Échos.
To carry it out, the company that offers a salary benchmarking tool surveyed more than 1,000 startups at various stages of their growth, from pre-seed to Series C, including self-financing and post-acquisition.
What are the highest-paid positions ?
Thus, we learn that the highest-paid job within a startup is that of director legal, apart from those of general manager and country director of course. This crucial role helps navigate an often complex environment where regulations, intellectual property, contractual relations, and governance are paramount. The median salary for this position is 84,000 euros per year.
With 82,000 euros and 78,000 euros respectively, engineering and data managers complete this podium. People working in customer services have the lowest salaries.
Tech jobs continue to stand out with higher salaries; management positions in IT and technology benefit from a salary increase that is significantly higher than in other fields. A technical director or manager earns an average of €97,700 per year, while their counterparts in sales and marketing departments top out at €85,000.
The trend is also confirmed at the start of their careers. Junior professionals in technical professions immediately obtain a salary advantage of around €6,200 compared to their peers from sales or marketing backgrounds.
© Unsplash/French Tech
Faced with the financing crisis, startups turn to customers
While this disparity reflects the current strong demand for tech talent, in a context of digital transformation of businesses and increasing valuation of digital expertise, it is important to note that jobs related to marketing and sales saw their salaries grow more in 2024.
They climbed by 4%, compared to only 0.7% for tech profiles. This inversion breaks with previous years where engineers and developers systematically benefited from the most substantial increases.
The phenomenon is even more pronounced at the management level. Sales and marketing directors of early-stage startups have recorded spectacular salary jumps: +19% and +20% respectively. In contrast, technical directors have only progressed by 7%. Finance and human resources departments, for their part, are experiencing pure and simple stagnation, probably linked to the recent economic turbulence.
The same story is true for more mature companies, where marketing directors have seen their compensation increase by 10%, while that of technical directors has not changed.
With the financing sector having been in dire straits for many months, startups are forced to resort to other practices to obtain liquidity, and are therefore turning to the customer. An adaptation strategy that translates into salary fluctuations depending on the position.
- A study reveals that in the French Tech ecosystem, sales and marketing professions have seen their salaries increase more than those working in tech in 2024.
- A disparity that reflects the reality of the market. As fundraising becomes increasingly scarce, companies are turning to customers for cash.
- Aside from general managers and country managers, legal directors are the highest-paid positions in startups.
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