2022 Tech Salaries

and Benefits Trends:

Q2 Report
Contents
Summary / TL;DR 3

Dataset description 5

2022 salary evolution quarter over quarter 6

Salary evolution by role
7

Highlights 12

Yearly salary gap 13

First quarter vs. second quarter of 2022: a comparison
14

Current vs. expected salaries for 2022 15

Most popular benefits for remote work in 2022 16

Highlights 18

What to expect in Latin American remote

19
recruiting for Q3’22?
More U.S. companies hiring in Latin America
19

Stabilization in LATAM salaries

19

Better benefits
20

Optimized recruiting and hiring processes 20

About Nexton 21

Annexes 22
Summary / TL;DR
The first quarter of 2022 reached an all-time high in terms of compensation for
senior tech roles in Latin America. However, the economic context in the second
quarter is showing a 10% QoQ decline in median compensation values.

U.S. VC-backed companies have massively frozen or slowed down their hiring
plans since early Q2, but they continue to embrace the benefits of hiring in Latin
America, at around 40% to 60% less total cost compared to hiring equivalent roles
in the U.S. This has certainly been fueling the demand for remote professionals

in the region.

2022 began with an upwards trend in terms of salaries for senior tech
professionals. But, after the first quarter of the year, the global demand for most
roles began to decrease due to the recent economic turmoil that quickly began to
shake the tech industry.

From the first quarter of the year to the second, there was a significant median
salary drop for remote talent based in Latin America: from USD 60,000 to USD
54,000. In other words, there was a 10% drop in salary only in the past three
months. To our experts, this means that the market is making job offers with lower
compensation ranges –and a lower volume of opportunities are available in the
market as the current situation requires companies to reduce costs and enter the
“nuclear winter” in survival mode.

Median expected annual salary changes by role in Latin America:

Front-End developers’ expected salary started to drop in the first

quarter of 2022, from USD 90,000 to USD 84,000 and continued to
decrease during the second quarter of the year, lowering to

USD 72,000.

Back-End developers’ median expected compensation grew

consistently during 2021 and saw an all-time high at USD 96,000
during the first quarter of 2022, before plummeting to USD 84,000
in the second quarter.

3
 Full-Stack developers didn’t see any changes in either quarter of the
year, staying stable at USD 84,000 since the third quarter of 2021.

Data Engineers’ expected compensation dropped from USD 102,000

to USD 75,000 annually.

Product Managers’ median expected compensation declined from

USD 78,000 to USD 60,000.

The talent is adjusting their expectations to the market changes: seeing overall
salaries drop and less demand for their particular roles has resulted in lower
salary expectations.

Current vs. expected salaries:

The gap between the current and the expected salaries varied by
only 1% between the first quarter of the year and the second. Indeed,
2021 ended with a gap of 56%, dropping slightly to 54% in Q1’22, only
to stabilize at 55% as the second quarter progressed.

Even though the median expected salaries saw a 9% decrease during

the first half of 2022, the current vs. expected salary gap remained
almost the same, only varying minimally by 1% between each quarter
–meaning that the median expected salary dropped alongside the
median current salary.

Benefits offered by companies are still improving in LATAM:

Even though the current median salary saw a 10% decrease in the
second quarter of 2022, more companies are offering better benefits
than last year. For instance, 90% of companies are now delivering
career growth for their team members; 50% are offering Employee
Stock Options, Equity, or some form of Stock; and 36% of companies
are currently offering payment in cryptocurrencies.

4
Dataset Description

652 candidates were surveyed for this report with the following

characteristics:

They are based in any of the following Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil,

Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico,

Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

They have more than 3 years of experience in relevant tech jobs.

They already have experience working for U.S. companies.

They all have an upper-intermediate or advanced English level.

They are all part of Nexton’s Talent Network, vetted technically by an engineer or

equivalent professional.

Their expected compensation was measured annually before taxes and without

including benefits (bonuses and Employee Stock Option Plans).

They are currently performing any of the following senior roles: Front-End Engineer,

Back-End Engineer, Full-Stack Engineer, Data Engineer, DevOps/SRE Engineer,

Engineering Manager, Mobile Developer, Product Manager, or Tech Lead.

Our services provide end-to-end hiring, so you can enhance your

tech team without the stress.

Find out more about our Hiring & Payroll

Processing services at Nexton.

5
2022 Salary Evolution
Quarter Over Quarter
During the first quarter of 2022, most salaries presented an increase as demand for
senior software developers and other tech professionals continued to skyrocket. In
fact, the median expected salary had grown from USD 78,000 to USD 92,400
between Q4’21 and Q1’22. But as 2022 progressed, particularly during the second
quarter, the economic downturn hit various industries, severely impacting the

VC-backed tech ecosystem. As a consequence, some U.S. companies began doing

massive layoffs, VCs slowed down their funding, valuations dropped, and startups
were advised to cut down on costs to extend their respective runways.

In parallel, the growth trend that had been impacting the salaries of tech roles in
Latin America came to a sharp and almost sudden halt as median salaries began to
see a steady decrease. The industry’s expectation of an impending global recession
seems to have made the tech world freeze in anticipation. What remains uncertain is
how long this market slowdown will last. While certain specialists forecast it will
last a long time, the good news is that LATAM can be a solution for companies
looking to extend their runways while recovering their profitability.

Salary Evolution Quarter over Quarter

120K
$120k 0% $120k

100K $108k
-11.1%
$96k
80K $92.4k
-9.1%
$72k
60K $84k

-8.3%
$66k
40K

20K
Q1 2022 Q2 2022
Legend
25% Percentile annual salary 75% Percentile annual salary 90% Percentile annual salary
Median of expected annualized salary Quarter % change

6
Salary Evolution by Role
The salary evolution data for each role will allow companies to adjust their salary ranges,
and to understand where possibilities are for strategically acquiring great talent.

Back-End Developer Compensation Evolution

$120k $120k $120k $120k
120K $111.6k
$106.2k $108k
$100.8k
100K $96k $96k
$84K $84K
$78K $96K
80K $84K
$72k $72k
$66k $77.4k
$60k
60K

40K
7.7% 0% 14.3% -12.5%
20K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Data Engineer Compensation Evolution

$118.8k
120K $115.2k
$108k $106.2k $108k
$96k
100K $94.8k
$96k $102K
$86.4k
$78K $84.6k
80K $84K $87k $75K

$60k $72K
$71.1k
60K $54k

$54k
40K
7.7% -14.3% 41.7% -26.5%
20K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend
25% Percentile annual salary 75% Percentile annual salary 90% Percentile annual salary
Median of expected annualized salary Quarter % change

7
 Engineering Manager Compensation Evolution

$144K $138K $144K

140K $136.8K

$132K $132K
$120K
120K
$120K $120K
$114K
$96K
100K
$96K $108k
$94.5K $102k

80K $84k $84K $84K

$74.7k
60K

40K $48k

-12.5% 0% 42.9% 0%

20K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Front-End Developer Compensation Evolution

$120k $120k $120k

120K
$108k $108k $108.9k

100K $96k $96k $96k

$90k $90K

80K $78K $78K $84K $72K

$72k $72k
$60k $60k $58.5k
60K

40K
0% 15.4% -6.7% -14.3%

20K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend

25% Percentile annual salary 75% Percentile annual salary 90% Percentile annual salary
Median of expected annualized salary Quarter % change

8
 Full-Stack Developer Compensation Evolution

$120k $120k $120k

120K

$108k $108k

$102k $102.9k $102k

100K $96k

$96k

80K $84K $84K $84K

$84K $84K

$72k $72k $72k

$66k $66k
60K

40K

0% 0% 0% 0%

20K

Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Mobile Developer Compensation Evolution

$120k $120k $120k

120K $116.4k
$111.6k
$118.5k

$96k
100K $96k $96k

$105.6K
$96K

$78K
80K $85.5k $84K
$84K

$72k $72k $72k

60K
$60k

40K

7.7% 25.7% -9.1% -12.5%

20K

Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend

25% Percentile annual salary 75% Percentile annual salary 90% Percentile annual salary

Median of expected annualized salary Quarter % change

9
 Product Manager Compensation Evolution

$119.4K
120K

$103.2K $101.7K
$97.8K $96K
100K

$84K
$84K $84K
$78K
$78K
80K
$72K

$57.6K $60K $60K

60K

$54K

40K

11.1% 20% 8.3% -23.1%

20K

Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

SRE / DevOps Compensation Evolution

$120k $120k

120K $112.8k

100K $96k $96k

$93.6k $93k $108k

$84K
$84k
80K $84k $84K $85.2K

$66K $72k $72k

$66k
$72K

60K
$53.4k
$60k

40K

-21.4% 27.3% 1.4% -15.5%

20K

Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend

25% Percentile annual salary 75% Percentile annual salary 90% Percentile annual salary

Median of expected annualized salary Quarter % change

10
 Tech Lead Compensation Evolution

$121.8k
$120k $120k $120k $120k
120K
$120k
$108k $108k
$102k $100.8k
100K $97.5k
$96k $96k
80K $84K $84K $84k $84k

$72k $72k $72k

60K

40K
0% 14.3% 0% 5%
20K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend
25% Percentile annual salary 75% Percentile annual salary 90% Percentile annual salary
Median of expected annualized salary Quarter % change

QA Manual and QA Automation Engineers

Our team of data experts has concluded the following, based on Q2’2022 job openings for
Senior QA Manual and QA Automation Engineers:

Sr. QA Manual: the monthly compensation for this role varies between USD 3,000
to USD 5,000; meaning that U.S. companies hiring remotely in Latin America are
offering an annual average salary of USD 36,000 to USD 60,000 for this position.

Sr. QA Automation Engineers: the monthly salary for this position varies between
USD 4,000 to USD 6,000. In other words, companies are currently offering
between USD 48,000 to USD 72,000 annually for this role.

Disclaimer: we were unable to gather enough data to detail the percentiles for these two positions.

11
Highlights
Front-End engineers’ median expected annual salary gradually plummeted, dropping
from USD 90,000 to USD 72,000 as the first half of the year progressed. The median
expected annual salary for this role saw a 14.3% decrease between the first and
second quarters of 2022.

The median expected annual salary of Back-End developers decreased from USD
96,000 to USD 84,000 during the second quarter of 2022, dropping 12.5%.

Full-Stack developers’ median expected salary didn’t see any changes in either
quarter of the year, staying stable at USD 84,000 annually.

Data Engineers’ median expected annual salary saw a considerable drop from USD
102,000 to USD 75,000, decreasing 26.5%.

Product Manager’s median expected annual salary was reduced significantly from
USD 78,000 to USD 60,000, thereby declining 23.1%.

12
Yearly Salary Gap
As part of the survey, all candidates were asked to voluntarily disclose both their current
salaries and their minimum expected salary to consider participating in a recruiting process.
The gap between the current salary and the expected salary for the analyzed tech roles will
certainly give companies a clue regarding the state of the employment market in the Latin
American region.

Throughout 2021, the gap between expected and current salaries grew from just 36% to
55%, seemingly pushed by the uptrend in compensation. However, as the offered salaries for
tech jobs in the market began to drop after the first quarter of 2022, so did the expected
salaries: whereas the current median salaries decreased 10%, the expected salaries dropped
9%. Therefore, the salary gap between expected and current salaries in 2022 varied only by
1% between the first and second quarters, remaining stable at 55%. Regardless of the
current drop in salaries, candidates continue to look for remote job opportunities because
they consider them to be an opportunity for significantly increasing their incomes.

Despite the recent unstable movements in the tech world, it’s highly important to keep your
current team members happy and satisfied with their jobs to retain them and not risk losing
them to other companies. In such a dynamic market, Nexton’s experts recommend revising
the salaries, benefits, and career paths of your team members every 3 to 6 months.

Annual Compensation Gap by Role

Legend
Compensation Gap Percentage (%) Median Expected Annual Compensation (USD)
Median Current Annual Compensation (USD)
13
First Quarter vs. Second Quarter of 2022:

A Comparison

After almost two full years of booming, the demand for software developers and other

tech professionals –particularly in hot industries based on blockchain, Machine Learning/

AI, e-commerce, ed-tech, and health-tech– is starting to decrease slightly. As previously

mentioned, this factor, along with the massive layoffs and startups needing to cut down

on costs, seem to contribute to companies offering lower overall median salaries.

Annual Compensation Gap by Quarter

60%
54% 56%

90K

92K

40%
80K
84K

70K

20%

60K

60K

54K

50K 0%

Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend

Compensation Gap Percentage (%) Median Expected Annual Compensation (USD)

Median Current Annual Compensation (USD)

14
Current vs. Expected Salaries for 2022

Current vs. Expected Salary Gap: Analysis by Quarter

100K

80K $92.4K $84K

$74.4K $78K
60K $72K
$60K
$49.9K $50.4K $54K
$49.9K
40K $28k (56,02%) $32.4k (56,02%) $30k (55,56%)
$24.4k (49.04%)
$21.6k (42,86%)
20K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend

Compensation Gap Percentage (%) Median Expected Annual Compensation (USD)

Median Current Annual Compensation (USD)

Ready to hire senior software engineers? Reach out to our

specialized headhunting agency at Nexton.

15
Most popular benefits for
remote work in 2022
The benefits that are being offered in the LATAM market for remote professionals have
seen significant growth since 2021.

Some pioneering companies are starting to offer a few benefits that used to be practically
nonexistent in remote work, including tuition reimbursement, health insurance, gym
membership, and competitive salary and equity grants. In general terms, companies are
pushing their limits to ensure their best team member’s satisfaction to minimize
contractor attrition.

This means that offering a median salary aligned to the market won’t be enough to recruit
and retain the most qualified senior tech talent. In current times, Nexton continues to
encourage companies hiring in LATAM to provide substantial benefits packages to attract
and retain the best workers.

Legend

16
Most Offered Benefits by Remote Companies in 2021 vs. 2022

Legend

17
Highlights
The most significant changes in benefits include the following:

In 2021, 72% of companies offered career growth –a management strategy for remote
teams that identifies and boosts advancement opportunities for workers based on
their own career goals, skills, and personal interests (including one-on-one feedback,
possibilities to grow into more senior or leadership roles, and more). During the first
half of 2022, this number increased to 90%, which means that as of now, only 10% of
companies don’t offer career paths yet.

The percentage of companies that offer company-wide gatherings and retreats grew
from 65% to 86%, echoing the importance of driving remote teams to integrate
with the rest of the company –especially in hybrid companies.

While only 30% of companies were offering Employee Stock Option Plans, equity

or some form of company stock in 2021, now 50% of them are offering this benefit.

Cryptocurrencies are also a benefit that is becoming popular in the tech industry,
increasing from just 17% to 36% of companies offering them as an optional

salary payment.

Having increased from 88% since last year, now a whopping 98% of companies are
offering Paid Time Off or Paid Vacations, adapting to comply with remote contractors.

The only benefits that seem to be mildly decreasing are the provision of work-related
equipment, which saw a 4% decrease since last year, lowering from 40% to 36%; and
paid parental leave, which decreased from 3% to 2%.

Now 1% of companies are even offering benefits that were completely unheard of in
remote work, such as tuition reimbursement, health insurance reimbursement, gym
membership, and competitive salary and equity grants.

Some pioneer companies, like Nexton, adopted a four-day workweek model for their
teams, a strategy that’s proven to skyrocket retention and talent attraction.

We understand that hiring senior software developers is no easy task.

So we simplified it for you. Save time and money with Nexton.

18
What to expect in Latin American
remote recruiting for Q3´22
Remote work has undoubtedly become the new normal for the tech industry, and it
continues to expand across markets. As companies and startups build their teams
outside the U.S., the high demand for world-class talent from Latin America consolidates.
Meanwhile, developers and other tech professionals continue to be open to new job
opportunities that will allow them to have an increasingly higher quality of life. So, what
can you expect for the second half of 2022?

More U.S. companies hiring in Latin America:

It remains unclear how the economic downturn will continue to affect startups and their
capability to grow their teams. However, during this unstable moment in the tech industry,
it’s expected that many more companies will start hiring opportunistically in Latin America,
as the region offers a wide pool of very talented and experienced developers that remain
between 40% to 60% cheaper than U.S. professionals, among other benefits.

Stabilization in LATAM salaries:

After last year’s boom in demand for tech professionals and their salaries, and the recent
10% decrease in the median compensation, we can expect salaries to begin stabilizing or
dropping a maximum of 10% from current values, as the Latin American talent pool keeps
becoming more attractive to U.S. companies.

19
Better benefits:

The data gathered in our report shows that companies continue to improve the benefits they
offer in their job openings. As a consequence, the gap between U.S. employee benefits and
Latin American contractor benefits keeps reducing year over year. To businesses looking to
hire abroad, this means that they need to be more creative than ever to attract new remote
talent. Moreover, given that the current economic downturn is driving more and more
companies towards hiring in LATAM, the region’s market will become a bit more competitive
–even if salaries continue to drop or remain stable.

Keep in mind that candidates aren’t just looking for a competitive salary, they’re also looking
for a great company culture that will make them feel part of something bigger than
themselves. The right mix between compensation, benefits and company culture will help
CTOs, CEOs, hiring managers, and investors hire and retain top-skilled talent. In other words,
it’s essential to offer an attractive benefits package and to understand the regional market
trends in detail, to be able to adjust quickly and compete at the highest possible level. At
Nexton, we focus on helping purposeful, mission-driven companies attract the right
candidates looking for long-term jobs at U.S. companies that offer appealing benefits.

Optimized recruiting and hiring processes:

Even though the tech industry has been affected by the economic downturn, technology
professionals remain a highly sought-after resource. Consequently, they are becoming
increasingly selective of the recruiting processes they participate in. This is why companies
should begin to regard the process of recruiting in LATAM as a product: by optimizing and
customizing it to each open position, they have a better possibility of attaining the best
talent in the region. Companies with long, slow processes (i.e.: above 6 hours in total) that
include many interviews and challenges will see a high number of candidates drop out
before getting to the offer stage as these professionals tend to participate in more than one
recruiting process when they’re actively looking for new opportunities and, thus, will likely
receive more interview invitations quickly.

20
About Nexton
Connecting U.S. companies
with the strongest technology
professionals in Latin America.
We specialize in headhunting and recruiting the best
software developers and tech professionals in Latin
America for purposeful US companies. Our expertise
allows us to find and recruit top-skilled remote team
members to join first-class development teams.

What drives us?

We believe in remote work and the positive impact 100% transparent

it has on the global economy. We also believe that

building a global workforce will bring limitless Right expectations
opportunities for innovation. Our mission then is
to help companies build high-functioning, highly Invest the right amount of time
skilled remote teams; and our vision is to help the
best technology professionals based in LATAM
work with the most interesting US companies.

Why us?

2500+ 800+ 200+

Engineers were coached by Talented tech professionals Tech companies hired
Nexton and given expert advice found their dream job LATAM engineers
to enhance their skill set through Nexton through Nexton

At Nexton, remote recruiting is our bread and butter. Learn more

about how we vet top-tier technology professionals and software
engineering talent in Latin America.

21
Annexes

22
Monthly Salary Evolution by Role

Back-End Developer Monthly Compensation Evolution

12K

$10k $10k $10k $10k

10K $9.3k

$8k $8k $8.8k $9k

8K $8.4k
$8K
$7K $7K $7K
$6.5K
6K $6.4k
$6k $6k
$5.5k
$5k
4K

2K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Data Engineer Monthly Compensation Evolution

12K

$9.9k
10K $9.6k $9k $8.8k
$9k
$7.9k $8k $8k
8K $7k $8.5K
$7.2k
$7K
6K $6.5K $7.2k $6.2K
$5.9k $6K
$5k
4K $4.5k $4.5k

2K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend
25% Percentile annual salary 75% Percentile annual salary
Median of expected annualized salary 90% Percentile annual salary

23
 Engineering Manager Monthly Compensation Evolution

$12k $12k
12K $11.5k
$11.4k
$11k $11k
10K
$10k $10k
$10k
$9.5k $8k
$9k
8K $7k $8.5k
$8k $7.8k

$7k $7k
6K
$6.2k
$4k
4K

2K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Front-End Developer Monthly Compensation Evolution

12K
$10k $10k $10k
10K $9k

$9k $9k $8k $8k

8K
$8k
$7.5k $7.5k $7k $6k
6K $6.5k $6.5k
$6k $6k
$5k $5k $4.8k
4K

2K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend
25% Percentile annual salary 75% Percentile annual salary
Median of expected annualized salary 90% Percentile annual salary

24
 Full-Stack Developer Monthly Compensation Evolution
12K
10K $10k $10k $10k
$9k
$8.5k $8.5k $8.5k
$9k $8k
8K $8k $7k $7k $7k
6K $7k $7k
$6k $6k $6k
$5.5k $5.5k
4K
2K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Mobile Developer Monthly Compensation Evolution

12K
10K $10k $9.7k $10k $10k
$9.8k $9.3k
$8k $8k $8k
8K $8k $7k
$8.8k
$8k $7k
6K $6.5k $7.1k
$6k $6k
$6k
$5k
4K
2K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend
25% Percentile annual salary 75% Percentile annual salary
Median of expected annualized salary 90% Percentile annual salary

25
 Product Manager Monthly Compensation Evolution

12K

10K $9.9k

$8.6k $8.4k
$8.1k $8k

8K
$7k $7k $7k
$6.5k $6.5k

6K
$4.8k
$6k
$5.8k

$4.5k $5k $5k

4K
$4k $4k
$3.5k
$2.7k
2K

Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

SRE / DevOps Monthly Compensation Evolution

12K

$10k $10k
10K $9.4k

$8k $8k
$7.7k $9k
8K
$7k $7.1k
$7.8k
$7k

$7k $7k $6k

6K $5.5k

$6k $6k

$5.5k
$5k
4K $4.4k

2K

Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend

25% Percentile annual salary 75% Percentile annual salary

Median of expected annualized salary 90% Percentile annual salary

26
 Tech Lead Monthly Compensation Evolution

12K
$10k $10k $10k $10k $10.1k
10K
$8.5k $10k
$8.1k $9k $9k
8K $8.4k
$8k $8k
$7k $7k
6K $7k $7k
$6k $6k $6k

4K

2K
Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022

Legend
25% Percentile annual salary 75% Percentile annual salary
Median of expected annualized salary 90% Percentile annual salary

27
Need help to build your team?
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