Those kinds of things can be explained by any company that offers them. They're not guaranteed. Other benefits fall into a similar category where one company's coverage of health, dental, retirement, etc, will differ from another's. But I would not take any of those as meaning that the salary data for software development isn't useful.
That's not at all the same. I'm not talking about "a few RSUs" or a "small signing bonus". At all of the largest software employers, salary is at best half of total comp.
This year, my salary is less than 1/4th of my total comp. The other parts of my compensation are a cash bonus and RSUs, both guaranteed in my employment contract, both paid out+earned on the roughly the same schedule as my salary.
And the stock is literally better than cash given the inflation rate.
> retirement
This is actually instructive on how salary data can be wildly misleading.
There are tons of careers where salaries have modestly increased (or decreased on real terms) but where total comp as PLUMMETED as pensions were replaced with 401Ks.
I'd argue that they are if they live on either coast. If you live in a big coastal city and aren't getting stock and great benefits, then you either are working for a teensy company, a gaming company, or are getting taken to the cleaner's.
I'm not saying that no stock or great benefits aren't the common case. Rather, it's the GP saying that his salary is less than 1/4 of his total comp, which does not sound typical
