Meta made headlines last year when the company aggressively hired talent specialised in artificial intelligence. However, now a recent date has revealed how far Meta went to hire good talent. As per the data, Meta was one of the few firms that offered some of the highest base salaries in the tech industry. It was to attract skilled workers across engineering, research, and product roles. These figures come from thousands of work visa filings and give a rare view into how Meta builds its teams. At a time when global tech firms are competing for a limited pool of AI experts, the numbers highlight the growing importance of talent. They also show how companies are ready to spend big to stay ahead in the fast-changing AI race.
According to a report by Business Insider, Meta offered base salaries up to $450,000 for software engineers and $400,000 for research engineers. Product managers were also highly compensated, with some receiving almost $348,000 annually. The figures only account for salaries and exclude bonuses and stock grants that often inflate the total compensation package significantly.
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The statistics have been collected from over 5,800 H-1B and similar visa petitions filed by Meta in 2025. They also cover recruitment within their various divisions such as WhatsApp and the payment service. While top roles received very high salaries, most jobs fell between $150,000 and $250,000, showing strong pay even at mid levels.
Around half of these roles were for software engineers. Designers and user experience researchers also earned good salaries, often crossing $200,000. At the top level, a vice president of AI reportedly received a base salary of $650,000.
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However, base salary is only one part of the total pay. With stock options and bonuses included, total earnings can double or even triple. Some reports suggest that a few senior AI researchers were offered packages worth more than $100 million, showing how intense the hiring race has become.
Meta ended 2025 with about 78,865 employees. Hiring slowed toward the end of the year as visa applications dropped. This came after changes in US visa rules increased costs and checks. At the same time, Meta also carried out layoffs in some areas while continuing to invest heavily in AI talent.