A Vice President of AI at Meta commanded a staggering base salary of $650,000 in 2025, according to newly released H-1B visa filings from HRExecutive. This figure dwarfs other top engineering salaries, underscoring a disproportionate valuation of AI leadership. Meta's 2025 H-1B visa filings reveal an almost desperate pursuit of top-tier AI talent.
Tech companies have recently undergone significant layoffs and cost-cutting measures. Meta is simultaneously offering record-high base salaries for critical engineering and AI roles via H-1B visas. This divergence creates a two-tiered labor market where some roles are deemed indispensable at any cost.
The intense competition for elite AI and software engineering talent will continue to escalate compensation, creating a distinct, highly rewarded segment within the tech labor market. This strategy forces competitors to either match exorbitant compensation or fall behind in critical tech domains.
The Breadth of High-Paying Roles
- Meta's 2025 work visa filings show software engineer base salaries ranging from roughly $124,000 to $450,000, according to HRExecutive.
- Research engineer base salaries reached up to $400,000 in Meta's 2025 work visa filings, as reported by HRExecutive.
- Data scientist base salaries extended up to the mid-$200,000 range in Meta's 2025 work visa filings, states HRExecutive.
These broad salary ranges across engineering and data science roles reveal a tiered compensation structure. Meta strategically uses the H-1B program to acquire both cost-effective junior talent and premium senior expertise, optimizing its global talent pipeline.
Meta's Strategic Talent Acquisition
In 2025, Meta hired over 5,800 individuals on federal H-1B and other work visas, according to HR.Economictimes.Indiatimes.com. Nearly half targeted software engineering roles, as reported by Business Insider. This heavy concentration on software engineering, coupled with base salaries up to $450,000, confirms Meta's intent to corner the market for elite generalist coding talent.
