Overheard co-workers salary info...am I overreacting?

[Phantomaniac]

Backstory: I sit right outside my managers office so I can hear a decent bit of what she says when her door is closed. Overheard her giving a yearly review to one of my co-workers, and unfortunately found out he started out making a good bit more than me. I'm kind of ticked off about this given the fact that he had significantly less work experience than me. On the other hand he has a masters degree and I have a bachelors. To top it off, I was recently promoted but was not promised my actual promotion raise until my 2 year review due to the "budget" (which will be in 6 months). Assuming I get that money it would close the gap between us. But I still feel rather annoyed that he would be making the same money I am in a lower position after one raise, that it took me 2 raises and a promotion to get.

What do you think, am I justified in feeling cheated? Or is this normal for someone with a masters degree to receive?

 

[brainhulk]

Doctorate>>>>>>>Master's> bachelor's

 

[Juddog]

Backstory: I sit right outside my managers office so I can hear a decent bit of what she says when her door is closed. Overheard her giving a yearly review to one of my co-workers, and unfortunately found out he started out making a good bit more than me. I'm kind of ticked off about this given the fact that he had significantly less work experience than me. On the other hand he has a masters degree and I have a bachelors. To top it off, I was recently promoted but was not promised my actual promotion raise until my 2 year review due to the "budget" (which will be in 6 months). Assuming I get that money it would close the gap between us. But I still feel rather annoyed that he would be making the same money I am in a lower position after one raise, that it took me 2 raises and a promotion to get.

What do you think, am I justified in feeling cheated? Or is this normal for someone with a masters degree to receive?

This is standard business practice 101 and I've seen it done at a lot of companies. It really has nothing to do with bachelors versus masters degree.

What it boils down to is that it's easier for management to hire someone at a bigger starting base salary than it is for them to give people huge pay raises. That's why a lot of people switch jobs and bounce around to get higher up in the pay scale versus staying at one place. Unless you're switching the type of job (e.g. going from non-manager to manager, or manager to director, etc.) you don't generally expect to get a big pay raise.

This is why management doesn't generally want people talking about what pay they get.

-- edit --
I've seen this first hand - someone got hired into a higher level position, hardly got any pay raises over the course of 6 years, then someone else was hired in at the same level with a higher starting pay. In this instance, the new person didn't have a better education / degree, he simply got in at a higher rate from the get go with less experience and equal degree. The first person just never gave enough effort in wanting / complaining about a pay raise.

 

[Vdubchaos]

You are over reacting.

NOTHING is fair (get used to this)....especially when you are talking Corporate world.

At my current place, Salary is based on age and experience. We have people that have been here 6+ years that are under 40 that make 50-75% of what other Older people make that have 2 years here.

Mind you the older folks (few anyways) are worthless and can't do a darn thing......I'm not even sure what they do all together.


Person in their 40s is probably the most valuable resource we have too.....

It seems like our CEO pulls # out of his ass.......

It's not fair and extremely fucked up, but what can you do?

 

[_Rick_]

but what can you do?

Start knocking at the competition's door. Send 'round your CV, and let it slip that that's what you're doing.

Of course, diplomatically, you're "just looking at the market, to see if there's something interesting"

If you get an offer, you can always ask your boss to match/exceed it.

 

[Attic]

If you were the manager and had an employee who you knew felt like you do in this situation, how would you want the employee to handle it?

I don't think you're overreacting. You are being used and cheated. If you're not upset about that then you're a dipshit.

Question is what can you do about it.

This kind of BS typically comes down to dealing with it or finding a new job. If they are doing this to you now, then they are not going to change.


Cliffs: Find a new job if you want a different less BS environment to work in.

 

[lxskllr]

What other people make is none of your business. If you heard nothing, were you happy with your compensation? If so, great! If not, do something about it. Demand more money, or leave.

Some people make out better in life through nothing but luck, and brilliant potential game changers don't see their potential realized due to unfortunate circumstances. That's life, and the only thing that matters is your happiness. You'll always fall short when compared to other people if you pick the right people to compare. OTOH, that works in reverse also.

 

[Eug]

My sis (who has a Masters) got job offers that those with beefier qualifications (PhDs in similar fields) didn't get. It turns out the standard practice was to offer more for PhD hires, and they didn't feel the job needed a PhD and they didn't want to pay that much.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Start knocking at the competition's door. Send 'round your CV, and let it slip that that's what you're doing.

Of course, diplomatically, you're "just looking at the market, to see if there's something interesting"

If you get an offer, you can always ask your boss to match/exceed it.

Sure

In most cases "fighting for proper raise" = finding another job

 

[Scarpozzi]

Google "Salary Compression".

Things can always get worse if you stay in one place....of course, there's risk involved in being the last guy in any organization. Just weigh your happiness with what you get paid with your financial needs. At some level, I don't care what other people make around me as long as I'm able to pay my bills and not run up too much debt at the end of the day.

 

[crashtestdummy]

I remember speaking with a hiring manager once, who said that she always has about 15% in discretionary money that she can use to hire someone, but that applicants rarely negotiate for it.

The world doesn't work in a "you do this work, so you get paid x" kind of way. They will pay you what you're able to negotiate for with what leverage you have. It's possible this other person had another offer that they had to match, or else risk losing him.

 

[Mixolydian]

How much money someone makes is no one's business but their own. Deal with it.

 

[DAGTA]

This is standard business practice 101 and I've seen it done at a lot of companies. It really has nothing to do with bachelors versus masters degree.

What it boils down to is that it's easier for management to hire someone at a bigger starting base salary than it is for them to give people huge pay raises. That's why a lot of people switch jobs and bounce around to get higher up in the pay scale versus staying at one place. .

This.

I'm in management. I believe in paying people well and giving rewarding raises. However, it is extremely difficult to get senior management and the bean counters to approve raises that are more than a cost of living adjustment. It's easier for me to hire new people in at higher salaries. I've spoken up about this being imbalanced and unfair to the current workers.

And so people continue to leave as they know it's their best shot at getting back to market levels.

 

[Eug]

BTW, in some jobs the pay scale is basically the same across the board, even across multiple independent workplaces, regardless of experience and workload. That can lead to its own problems.

 

[Cal166]

You are over reacting.
Mind you the older folks (few anyways) are worthless and can't do a darn thing......I'm not even sure what they do all together.
?

I deal with God damn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills, I am good in dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you, people?

 

[Markbnj]

Employment is a private relationship between the employer and employee. You get the salary that you successfully negotiate for. If you're under-paid, then you'll have to negotiate for more. To negotiate a higher salary from a position of strength usually requires having a better paying job in the can in case you fail.

 

[Printer Bandit]

i wish we lived in a communist society where everyone got paid the same for the same amount of work.

 

[Thebobo]

i wish we lived in a communist society where everyone got paid the same for the same amount of work.

Oh snap~!

Oh and to the OP, just dont go postal

 

[Ferzerp]

Employment is a private relationship between the employer and employee. You get the salary that you successfully negotiate for. If you're under-paid, then you'll have to negotiate for more. To negotiate a higher salary from a position of strength usually requires having a better paying job in the can in case you fail.

What he said.

It's all about how you negotiate. Never put yourself in a position of weakness, and you'll be able to negotiate better pay.

Organizations are always going to pay you the minimum they think you'll accept. It's up to you to make sure that minimum is a good amount.

You have to get away from the mentality that they are doing you a favor by giving you a job. It's a mutually beneficially arrangement.

 

[Phantomaniac]

Interesting to see such opposing reactions here. I feel like I'm on the fence. On one hand my salary is alright and I'm able to support myself. On the other hand it probably won't cut it if I want to marry/start a family with my long term girlfriend (which I do at some point). Thinking of trying to negotiate for more during my 2 year review and if that gets denied, looking elsewhere.

The thing that sucks is that this is a small company and so I thought they would reward hard work and dedication more than a large corporation (which I previously worked for). I guess starting salary means a lot more than I thought it did.

 

[Jeraden]

Unfortunately in a lot of corporations, that's how it works. You gain experience and become more valuable, but due to corporate policies, your department is handcuffed in how much of a raise they can give you. So in pretty short time, you are underpaid and there's nothing your manager or department can do for you. They simply don't have the ability to authorize a raise more than a certain amount. So you get your 5% per year, meanwhile the new guy is hired making more than you, despite having less skills and less experience now. But it's easier to get in a higher starting salary for someone than it is to get through a raise for an existing employee. Unfortunately all you can do is find a new job.

 

[SaurusX]

I've seen this first hand - someone got hired into a higher level position, hardly got any pay raises over the course of 6 years, then someone else was hired in at the same level with a higher starting pay. In this instance, the new person didn't have a better education / degree, he simply got in at a higher rate from the get go with less experience and equal degree. The first person just never gave enough effort in wanting / complaining about a pay raise.

Spot on. I've been subject to this game as well. The solution for me was to switch companies.

 

[TwiceOver]

How much money someone makes is no one's business but their own. Deal with it.

This. It's basically the only secret businesses should keep from their employees.

 

[SheHateMe]

There was a bit of drama surrounding this type of thing too at my internship where one of the interns decided to complain to management that some of the other interns were making more than her. Basically her reasoning was that she'd been in school longer and is working on her masters.

I don't get it. Why do people think they deserve a certain pay grade just because they went to school longer than somebody else? It doesn't mean you are better at your job than they are. It should be about results.

 

[Ancalagon44]

This. It's basically the only secret businesses should keep from their employees.

They only do so because they dont want employees finding out that they are underpaid. It puts the business in a position of strength when it comes to negotiating salaries.

And somehow its become taboo to talk about salaries in Western culture. You would sooner discuss your last bowel movement with a coworker than discuss salary.

I think part of it is that a lot of people feel their self esteem is tied to how much they earn.