The Halo Is a Cage: What an hvv Employee's Paycheck Actually Looks Like
Recently, while browsing the community during a break from work, I came across a post from a family member of an hvv employee complaining and venting. The content was roughly like this:
"My husband joined the company in 2022 as a regular employee. People always mistakenly think he has a high salary and big bonuses, but actually he hasn't received any stock grants yet. He hasn't saved much money for now, and I really feel for how hard he works."
My first reaction upon seeing this post was:
Talking about hvv's compensation?
I know this topic well.
There were quite a few people discussing it in the comments section below the post—some complaining, some comparing their own miserable situations, some resonating with it, and some even expressing envy that he could get into this company...
In short, I've found that no matter where you are, this thing is just a huge besieged fortress; people outside want to get in, and people inside want to get out.
As everyone knows, the social status of a programmer isn't actually that high.
When you go home for the New Year and face questions from relatives, saying you work as a programmer at company xxx honestly doesn't have much impact.
But there is one company that is an exception, and that is hvv.
In the eyes of many aunts, uncles, and even long-lost old classmates, as long as you get into this company, it's equivalent to entering a gold mine.
"Oh wow, you work at hvv? Your year-end dividends must be huge this year, right?"
"I heard your year-end bonuses start at hundreds of thousands? When are you upgrading your house again?"
"My kid wants to study computer science in the future; can you help guide them when they graduate?"
In the eyes of many outsiders, hearing that someone is an hvv employee immediately associates them with high salaries, big bonuses, and large dividends.
But,
Is that really the case?
I remember seeing a so-called hvv employee salary table online before, which many of you might have come across:
hvv Employee Salary Table:
- Level 13 Annual Salary: 200-300K (No stock dividends)
- Level 14 Annual Salary: 300-350K (No stock dividends)
- Level 15 Annual Salary: 400-500K
- Level 16 Annual Salary: 500-600K
- Level 17 Annual Salary: 600-800K
- Level 18 Annual Salary: 600-1,000K
- Level 19 Annual Salary: 1.5-2.0M (Management)
- Level 20 Annual Salary: 3.0-4.0M
- Level 21 Annual Salary: 4.0-5.0M
- Level 22 Annual Salary: 5.0-6.6M (Expert/Boss)
- Level 23 and above are very senior bosses
Of course, this isn't officially released; it was compiled by a netizen based on information from job-seeking communities. It's a statistical result.
I glanced over it, and the numerical ranges are basically not too far off; you can use it as a reference.
Generally speaking, salary at hvv is tied to job grade.
Employee grades range from Level 13 to Level 22, with Level 23 and above being very senior management.
Fresh graduates with a bachelor's or master's degree mostly start at Level 13 or 14, while PhDs can usually start at Level 15 or even higher. Programs like the "Genius Youth" plan can even reach Level 19.
hvv's promotion mechanism is relatively clear. Generally, promotions before Level 16 are fairly fast, but the higher you go, the harder it gets.
Among these, Level 18 is an extremely important watershed; promotion requires passing a rigorous defense and evaluation.
However, the reality is that at hvv, most employees are concentrated between Level 13 and Level 17.
Frankly speaking, grassroots employees make up the vast majority.
You want an annual salary of a million?
Sure.
You basically need to be at Level 18 or above, which means you'd at least be a senior expert or middle manager.
hvv's standard salary structure is:
Base salary + Bonus + Dividends.
If the job requires relocation, there are additional allowances. The longer you work at the company, the higher your grade, the bigger the bonuses, and the larger the scale of dividends tends to be.
In other words, the secret to an hvv employee's income lies in the two words: stock grants.
But the problem is, this isn't something you get the moment you walk in the door; there's a certain threshold.
There's a saying in the circle: at hvv, it's a small hurdle every three years and a big hurdle every five years, because within the first 3 years of joining, you mainly rely on salary; after 3 years, you rely on bonuses; and only after 5 years do stock dividends slowly become substantial.
Like the husband of the hvv family member in the post who joined in 2022, he is currently in the toughest climbing phase.
So, the high salary and wealth of hvv employees that outsiders talk about are actually achieved only after enduring for a very long time.
Coming back to the salary issue, outsiders often have a misunderstanding, or rather an illusion, always thinking that programmers at big tech companies earn a lot and have it good, while actually ignoring the price paid behind that high salary.
What they don't realize is that all of this comes from the rewards of high-intensity mental labor and long hours of brainpower dedication.
The family member in the post mentioned "I feel for how hard he works." The weight of this sentence is only understood by those who have truly worked in a big tech company.
hvv's work intensity might be conservatively described as 996; when busy, it's around the clock, and everyone around you is a workaholic.
More critically, this exhaustion isn't just physical; it's more of a mental drain — the oppressive feeling of being on standby at all times, the never-ending deadlines, and that love-hate performance pressure.
At the end of the article, I also want to talk about the so-called "Big Tech Halo" issue.
Again, it's like the saying goes, everywhere is a besieged fortress; people outside want to get in, and people inside want to get out.
Take hvv for example. It is undoubtedly a great enterprise, no question about it, and it has provided countless strivers with opportunities to change their destiny.
But, we also need to break the outside world's unrealistic fantasies about big tech companies and return to a rational career perspective.
First, don't measure the life at the base of the pyramid by the income level at the spire.
Any company is a pyramid structure.
Those earning a million-dollar annual salary and holding large amounts of stock are a minority; the vast majority are just a cog in this huge machine.
Their income might be above the social average, but it's far from reaching so-called financial freedom.
Secondly, the Big Tech Halo is actually slowly fading now.
As everyone knows, in the current environment, as the industry's dividends peak, major tech companies are cutting costs and increasing efficiency.
Now, I find that everyone is slowly coming to terms with it, and starting to become disenchanted.
A big tech job is really just a job. There's still involution, still exhaustion, and still the need to slip away when needed. The halo alone can't sustain you for too long.
Frankly, the halo is something given by the outside world. After all, whether you're comfortable or not, only you know in your heart.
What do you all think?
Note: This article has been included in the GitHub open-source repository "Road to Coding" https://github.com/rd2coding/Road2Coding, which contains self-study roadmaps + knowledge point overviews for 6 major programming directions (job positions), interview key points, my resume, several hardcore pdf notes, as well as programmer life and reflections. Welcome to star.