Desk·2026-10-07
Seattle WARN cuts do not reprice the SWE seat
Same software-engineer title. Microsoft prints the Redmond year. Amazon prints the Seattle book under it by about $8k. Name the shop before the city.
Microsoft typical $226,000 against $218,000 at Amazon.
AmazonSWE typical
Microsoft typical sits ~1.04× Amazon
Same title. Redmond clears $226k typical on a $158k base. Seattle clears $218k on a $155k base.
How to plan it
Sit Redmond before you sit the Seattle book
A software engineer planning 2027 in Seattle should treat Microsoft and Amazon as two public cash books eight thousand dollars apart, not one Puget Sound band. A Washington WARN filing puts 121 Amazon separations in Seattle, Bellevue, and Sumner starting 1 October. Microsoft notified 277 Puget Sound cuts on 22 September, with elimination set for 21 November at One Microsoft Way. Neither filing moves the seat. Microsoft software engineer prints $226k typical on the ledger with a $158k base you keep, sample ninety-one, marked up. Amazon prints $218k typical with a $155k base, sample eighty-eight, also up. The Redmond book leads typical by about $8k and the top by $30k — $340k against $310k. If you need the 2027 cash year and can sit the Redmond loop, take Microsoft first. If you want the Seattle door and can live with the thinner typical, sit Amazon — but name the tradeoff. The city is shared; the books are not.
Also: Amazon vs Microsoft · Who pays cash