Employees at social networking site Facebook are the youngest, satisfied and yet the most stressed, among workers at major US technology companies, according to a new report that also said staffers at Google are best paid as compared to those at other tech companies.

Seattle-based research firm PayScale said Facebook employees are the most satisfied and the Mark Zuckerberg-led company had the lowest median age - 26.

It also had the highest portion of female workers at 33 per cent, among nine of the industry's top businesses. A typical worker at Facebook is only 26 years of age, compared with a typical age of 36 across the other companies.

Workers at Facebook are the most satisfied with their jobs, while those at Hewlett-Packard are the least satisfied. The report said while Facebook employees may be the most satisfied with their work, they are also some of the most stressed.

"With a CEO who is 27, it is not surprising to find many who work at Facebook are young, excited to work there and a little stressed out," said Al Lee, director of quantitative analysis at PayScale.

The report said median pay for Google employees is 23 per cent higher than similar workers performing similar roles at other companies.
PayScale's Technology Company Salary and Job Satisfaction Report examined the characteristics of Amazon, Apple, Dell, Facebook, Google, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel and Microsoft.

The "worst" paid workers are at Hewlett-Packard, where employees earned 5 per cent less than similar workers at all other employers and earn about 15 per cent less than similar workers at the other big tech companies.

Employees of IBM stay the longest with the company, with the average tenure at IBM at eight years, which is about six years longer than the tenure at the other tech firms. Similarly, IBM workers tend to be the oldest.

The typical age of workers at IBM is 44. "IBM celebrates its 100th anniversary this year; the workforce is a little grayer than Facebook, but the employees' tenure at IBM testifies that it is still a great place to work," Al Lee said. Other findings indicated female employees are still a minority at the big tech firms.

On an average, only 25 per cent of the employees at the tech companies are female as compared with over 50 per cent of employees at all companies.  The report named Microsoft the most flexible tech company in terms of work and vacation schedules.

The report included details such as common jobs, pay, tenure at the company and employees' typical years of experience within their career/field, demographics, including age and gender as well as soft features such as job satisfaction levels.