A rough estimate is that the cost of an employee is 1.25x - 1.4x the salary of an employee in the US. With health insurance, Social Security taxes, 401K matching, office expenses, and more.

That seems exceedingly low. I've generally seen 2x. It's a bit less than that as salary goes up, but I can't imagine hitting 1.25x.

An employee costs more than just their salary.

My company isn’t based out of SV, we pay 130-220k base depending on team and experience. Senior devs are 200k+

Hey, it’s me, your future employee!

In Silicon Valley that would be a salary of a single engineer.

The cost of an employee is much higher than just the wages you pay them.

Wages are just part of the total cost of a employee.