Employee salaries in the startup ecosystem reflect market reality. In 2024, salespeople and marketing managers have seen their compensation increase the most, according to a study carried out by Figures for The Echoes.
To carry it out, the company which offers a salary benchmarking tool surveyed more than 1,000 startups at various stages of their growth, from pre-seed to Series C through self-financing and post-acquisition.
What are the best paid posts?
Thus, we learn that the highest paying job at a startup is that of legal directorapart from those of general manager and country director of course. This crucial role helps navigate an often complex environment where regulation, intellectual property, contractual relationships, and governance are paramount. The median salary for this position is 84,000 euros per year.
With respectively 82,000 euros and 78,000 euros, the engineering and data managers complete this podium. People working in customer services have the lowest salaries.
Jobs in the tech field continue to stand out with higher salaries; management positions in IT and technology benefit from a significantly higher salary valuation than other fields. A director or technical manager receives on average 97,700 euros annually, while their counterparts in the sales and marketing departments max out at 85,000 euros.
The trend is also confirmed at career entry. Junior professionals in technical professions immediately obtain a salary advantage of around 6,200 euros compared to their peers from sales or marketing sectors.
Faced with the financing crisis, startups turn to customers
If this disparity reflects the current strong demand for technological talents, in a context of digital transformation of companies and increasing valorization of digital expertise, it is important to note that professions linked to marketing and sales saw their salaries increase further in 2024.
They increased by 4%, compared to only 0.7% for technological profiles. This reversal breaks with previous years when engineers and developers systematically benefited from the most substantial increases.
The phenomenon is further accentuated at the level of management positions. Sales and marketing directors of early-stage startups have seen spectacular salary jumps: +19% and +20% respectively. In contrast, technical directors only progressed by 7%. Financial and human resources departments, for their part, are experiencing pure and simple stagnation, probably linked to the recent economic turbulence.
Same story among more mature companies, where marketing directors have seen their remuneration increase by 10%, while that of technical directors has not changed.
The financing sector has been in dire straits for many monthsstartups are forced to resort to other practices to obtain liquidity, and therefore turn to the customer. An adaptation strategy which results in salary fluctuations depending on the positions.
- 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 which reflects the reality of the market. As fundraising becomes increasingly rare, companies are turning to customers for liquidity.
- Aside from general managers and country managers, general counsel are the highest paid positions in startups.
