For Millennials in tech, work is about both meaning and money

Contrary to what’s become a popular belief, it turns out that many tech workers aren’t just pursuing riches in their careers.

A strong urge to make the world a better place drives many employees, even when they’re working in high-stress and relatively low-paying jobs, according to a report released Wednesday by the company PayScale, which aggregates pay and benefits packages for millions of workers.

Using its compensation database, PayScale analyzed the salaries, demographics and sense of well-being of all non-retail employees at 18 major tech firms, including Bay Area giants Apple, Facebook, Google and Salesforce.

SpaceX had the worst proportion of female employees at 14 percent; eBay boasted the most gender-diverse workforce at 43 percent female.

[...] median income for early-career employees at the companies studied ranged from a low of $65,400 at Hewlett-Packard (prior to its split), to a high of $116,800 at Facebook.

SpaceX and Tesla, both headed by Elon Musk, did the best job fostering a sense of meaning for their employees.

Employees at other rapidly growing tech firms also said that their work is improving society, including 78 percent of workers at Facebook, 74 percent at Apple and 72 percent at Google.

Many researchers say that appealing to employees’ urge to improve the world is crucial to recruiting and retaining workers — particularly Millennials, who have become the backbone of the tech sector.

“Tech is high growth, it’s exciting, it’s ever changing, and that’s a huge advantage for Millennials,” said Dan Schawbel, partner and research director at Future Workplace, an executive development firm.