Resources & Research

How much should a senior engineer earn in Berlin vs London vs Zurich vs New York? We break down compensation geography so you can negotiate with market data, not guesswork.

Figures represent median range for mid-senior Software Engineers. Updated from live listings.

AI and ML roles now command the highest median salaries on our platform — 22% above the general developer average. Here's what's driving that premium and which skills are most in demand.

• LLM / transformer expertise commands a 15–25% premium over classical ML
• Python + PyTorch/TensorFlow remain the baseline — RAG and agent frameworks are the differentiator
• Remote AI/ML roles grew 34% year-on-year in our database
• EU hiring for AI roles: Germany and France lead, followed by Netherlands and Spain

The average engineer who negotiates receives 10–20% more than the initial offer. Here's a data-backed framework for doing it without awkwardness.

1. 1Anchor with data. Reference Catalitium's salary report for your role/region. Numbers beat feelings every time.
2. 2Ask for the top of the range. Employers expect negotiation — the initial offer is rarely the maximum.
3. 3Negotiate total comp. If base is fixed, push on equity, bonus, signing bonus, remote days, and learning budget.
4. 4Get competing offers. The single best negotiation lever is a competing offer, even if you don't want to take it.

Research suggests up to 40% of job listings at any given time are already filled, on indefinite hold, or posted purely to collect résumés. Here's how to identify them and how Catalitium helps.

Remote tech roles pay 8–12% below equivalent on-site roles in absolute terms — but when adjusted for cost of living in lower-cost regions, the effective purchasing power is often 30–60% higher.

Most job searches fail not from a lack of applications but from a lack of targeting. A focused search with 20 quality applications typically outperforms 200 spray-and-pray submissions.

• →Use the AI Summary to qualify a role in 10 seconds before spending time on a full read
• →Save roles you're interested in and use the Tracker to manage your pipeline
• →Filter by salary estimate before reading descriptions — eliminate mismatches early
• →Watch the market trends chart — apply in weeks where new postings peak
• →Ignore ghost job listings unless you can reach the hiring manager directly