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Due to the Bon Appetit pay disparity fallout, media people are publicly sharing their salaries on Twitter

entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
60,228
What a crazy time for "The Man". Who would have that that COVID-19 would have such second-order effects?

Patrick Klepek seems to have started this after the BA stuff, where a well loved staffer wasn't getting paid for video appearances and only made 60k per year.

Wage transparency is one of the most important things that workers can do, but we've been conditioned to look only after ourselves, especially in the corporate world, with management and ownership loving it.



This is nutso

 
Jag

Jag

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,675
Also, many people may not know this but legally (in the US), a company cannot prohibit you from discussing anything salary related.
 
Tsuyu

Tsuyu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,642
The movement should broaden to how white employee are far more likely to be promoted than their peers.
 
PeskyToaster

PeskyToaster

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,314
It's crazy how deep the shame goes over sharing how much you make. A shame imposed from the top where there should be none. I work for local government so our pay is publicly available and set by elected officials but there should be no stigma around sharing what you make. It only helps us as employees and not "The Man". Just another way to keep workers against each other instead of looking up.
 
Dabanton

Dabanton

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,916
A lot of HR departments in creative industries must be sweating this morning lol

Everywhere creative I've worked

You're told when you get a new contract don't discuss your salary with others.

But it's time for the damn near veil of secrecy that benefits these companies in regards to what they're paying people to be lifted.
 
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PopsMaellard

PopsMaellard

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
3,361
PeskyToaster said:
It's crazy how deep the shame goes over sharing how much you make. A shame imposed from the top where there should be none. I work for local government so our pay is publicly available and set by elected officials but there should be no stigma around sharing what you make. It only helps us as employees and not "The Man". Just another way to keep workers against each other instead of looking up.
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I've been reprimanded at previous office jobs for sharing how much I make with my coworkers.

Talking about compensation is absolutely imperative.The social norm of keeping it quiet exists only to oppress minority workers.
 
OP
OP
entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
60,228
PeskyToaster said:
It's crazy how deep the shame goes over sharing how much you make. A shame imposed from the top where there should be none. I work for local government so our pay is publicly available and set by elected officials but there should be no stigma around sharing what you make. It only helps us as employees and not "The Man". Just another way to keep workers against each other instead of looking up.
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Lack of unions is also a lack of job security. White-collar professionals in the private sector can be fired for anything. Even if it is illegal to do, companies just lie anyway.

Also, HR policies are not just printed pages--it's cultural. So it's culturally enforced. And talking salary is very taboo and the Man benefits from that.
 

Deleted member 5876

Big Seller
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,559
That $100k is an "okay" salary. He is the head of the games journalism department at VICE.
I wouldn't call it a great salary or even good. It's just okay.
 
Post Reply

Post Reply

Member
Aug 1, 2018
4,511
(no raise over 4 years, iirc)
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Last place I worked at was like this. I was there for a bit and then during a performance review, my manager told me that the senior management there wanted me to move into a role with more responsibility (and would've required me putting in a LOT more hours) and he warned me that if I took the role, I wouldn't get a raise and suggested that I bail and try to get higher pay somewhere else.
 
Viewt

Viewt

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,808
Chicago, IL
This is awesome and I REALLY wish we could get this going for technology, but the stigma around sharing salaries in the industry is baaaaad. I've seen it in my own office, as well. Last year, another PM and I (both of us are men) were talking about our salary negotiation process upon hiring with another coworker (a woman who was in a separate hierarchy, but still ahead of us in terms of role/responsibilities). Both of us were making at least $30,000 more per year than she was. For working less hours, not having any direct reports, and generally not being responsible for as much.

She went to management about it and it got back to me and my other male coworker that discussions around salary were "in poor taste and not what is done at [Company Name]." It was later insinuated by our (now departed) department head that, when her salary was lifted at the end of the year, it may happen to come out of the funds that would otherwise pay for our raises. Which, honestly, would've been fine. We're paid above market - I'll make it. But yeah, the department head was axed for other reasons before he had the chance to make that happen.

But the reason for all of is nakedly obvious. If we all knew what each other made, it would shatter the illusion that so many people (women, people of color, GSM) are being underpaid just because "the money isn't there." It's fucking there. Management just knows they can get away with paying "some people" less.
 

99nikniht

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,352
MazeHaze said:
Damn only $65k a year living in SF mustve been rough.
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I think this largely depends when he actually moved to SF. If he had moved into SF prior to the most recent tech boom, circa 2011 and later, then rent at that time wasn't too crazy. Meaning, it's not difficult to have found a room with flatmates for ~$500. Now, that same bedroom would be upwards of $1500. However, I cannot speak about the creeping cost of eating out in the last 10 years, the costs of food has nearly jumped 75% from the cost of eating out just 4 years ago.
 
shaneo632

shaneo632

Weekend Planner
Member
Oct 29, 2017
29,022
Wrexham, Wales
I've worked in entertainment media for 8 years and in my best year I made about £25k. It's certainly enough for me because I don't have a family and don't live in a total ripoff hellhole, but I'm sure if you were living in London on less than that it would be a challenge.

Some of my friends in film criticism are barely above the breadline atm.
 
Jersey_Tom

Jersey_Tom

Banned
Dec 2, 2017
4,764
Tsuyu said:
The movement should broaden to how white employee are far more likely to be promoted than their peers.
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It also should include any benefits received.

For instance when I freelanced for a company at the beginning of my career I was make $25/hour. (We billed hourly and were overtime eligible, staff and freelance). I was also working enough to receive part time health benefits as well as contributions to a 401k.

When I became staff my hourly pay went down to around $22/hour with the only benefits being that the company paid slightly more for my healthcare and I gained vacation/sick days.

Might not sound like a lot in those terms but essentially the company believed me getting vacation days was enough of a benefit to cut my base pay by $6,200. I took it because I was 26 and wanted stability. Of course back then we were also working 4-Day work weeks and I could supplement that freelancing 2 days which meant I effectively was working 6-days a week. Still doing 2 jobs essentially just got me around $63,000 per year working in NYC.
 
data

data

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,732
SpottieO said:
He probably could share the Bloomberg salary but he probably doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds him at the moment.
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That makes sense. A lot of companies are notorious for trying to stop people from sharing their salary ( which is illegal I believe).

Hopefully, he's making a competitive amount.
 
anariel

anariel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
961
No raises whatsoever for those four years must have been pretty rough. Cost of living adjustments are pretty important, especially in an area like SF.

Patrick also revealing that the reason he's jumped between workplaces so much being because getting job offers is the only real way to secure wage increases is depressing. Unions are important.
 
gutshot

gutshot

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,439
Toscana, Italy
After my Game of Thrones fan site blew up, I briefly considered going into entertainment/enthusiast journalism as a career. Hoo boy, am I glad I didn't! Those salaries are ROUGH. Going the web developer route was much better.
 

Rahvar

Weight Loss Champion 2018: Most Lost
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,161
Sweden
I make about 50k a year (before tax) working in retail in Sweden to put it in perspective
 
Natiko

Natiko

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,263
An interesting dynamic is working for a state government with transparency laws so all salaries are public record, but upper management will still try and dissuade discussing it even though it's openly available information on the internet. Fun stuff.
 
EmptySpace

EmptySpace

Member
Oct 26, 2017
135
data said:
That makes sense. A lot of companies are notorious for trying to stop people from sharing their salary ( which is illegal I believe).

Hopefully, he's making a competitive amount.
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It is in fact illegal to prevent an employee from discussing their pay in the US, and it is also illegal for them to fire an employee for discussing their pay. That doesn't stop it from happening I was fired once for doing it and no matter how hard I tried to get them to faces consequences it was really hard to prove that was the reason.
 
scottbeowulf

scottbeowulf

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,391
United States
I've worked a job where you don't get a raise for 4 years. It fucking sucks. There's usually some kind of reason, whether it's totally true or not only the company knows. Mine was during the last recession. So I had a job at least... just a shitty one without a raise. But of course as soon as the economy started getting better they didn't give me shit. So I left.
 
Darkmaigle

Darkmaigle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,540
This is why its important for companies to have transparent "bands" or "scales". Pay disparity between employees is natural and part of recruiting/retaining talent. But to have MASSIVE discrepancies in the same role is toxic as fuck and every employee should be armed with the knowledge to purse what is best for their career and understand their value.
 
Skel1ingt0n

Skel1ingt0n

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,756
As someone with a journalism degree from a very strong college, I knew going into it (2007) it paid and would always pay like trash.

I had several friends and peers who mocked me for not pursuing a career in journalism upon graduation. "Why aren't you taking this offer at the WSJ or CNN for [literally] $31k a year?"

Shit sucks. And we wonder why standards aren't so poor and advertisements and paywalls run rampant.
 
krae_man

krae_man

Master of Balan Wonderworld
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,605
Darkmaigle said:
This is why its important for companies to have transparent "bands" or "scales". Pay disparity between employees is natural and part of recruiting/retaining talent. But to have MASSIVE discrepancies in the same role is toxic as fuck and every employee should be armed with the knowledge to purse what is best for their career and understand their value.
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Yeah, my employer used to have job bands and "steps" that were publicly posted. Steps are raises you get at specific time intervals(eg you get one every 2000 hours worked) until you are at the top of the pay scale for the position. We used to have company wide inflation increases as well.

Then those got replaced with "we will make decisions on an individual bases based on performance and company financials". That has resulted in no raises for most people regardless of job performance or the companies financial performance.
 
Elfgore

Elfgore

Member
Mar 2, 2020
4,583
These wages where I live is middle class. You could easily own a home on 65k, a nice home as well. Just knowing where all these are though.... Jesus that's gotta be rough. Four years with no raise ought to be a crime.
 
PopsMaellard

PopsMaellard

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
3,361
Skel1ingt0n said:
As someone with a journalism degree from a very strong college, I knew going into it (2007) it paid and would always pay like trash.

I had several friends and peers who mocked me for not pursuing a career in journalism upon graduation. "Why aren't you taking this offer at the WSJ or CNN for [literally] $31k a year?"

Shit sucks. And we wonder why standards aren't so poor and advertisements and paywalls run rampant.
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As someone who has a journalism degree and works retail because of it, what did you end up doing?
 
captive

captive

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,005
Houston
talking about your salary is imperative. Don't get mad at your colleagues cause they make more than you, get mad at your employer for dicking you over.

xgalaxy said:
That $100k is an "okay" salary. He is the head of the games journalism department at VICE.
I wouldn't call it a great salary or even good. It's just okay.
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really, cause according to ERA he's rich.
 
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