3-5X? What country is this? Typically in Silicon Valley there's a rapid rise in the first 5-7 years and then it gets pretty flat (say, 1.1X or 1.2X not 2-3X) unless you're actually taking on a bigger role (and thus getting paid for those responsibilities rather than "experience" per se).
When you look at it from a company cost perspective, the ratios get even smaller. The fixed costs (desk, power, healthcare, etc) are pretty much the same no matter the experience level of the engineer.
Jesus. When I started in '06, my total comp was 82k. My last year, 2010, my total comp was $115k. I managed to be both too late and too early to that party.
When you look at it from a company cost perspective, the ratios get even smaller. The fixed costs (desk, power, healthcare, etc) are pretty much the same no matter the experience level of the engineer.