So obligatory throwaway.
I work in software support. We deliver software to about 1 million companies around Scandinavia and we’re currently leading the market.
I am the one in my department that probably knows everything that is going on within the company and the software we provide, and I am way out-skilled for what I do.
Lately we have hired 10-15 developers but not enough testers. This means publishing of new updates and bug fixes are on hold. 3 of our testers also went on 6 month leave for various reasons (paternal leave?) so we are left with only 1 tester. As this job is not something you can learn through education, becoming a tester can take up to 2-3 years depending on how fast you learn.
Developer department leaders have therefore been asking me to step in to help testing the bug fixes before it is pushed to production. I said yes as it is in my interest, but I also added I wouldn’t do it for the same salary that I have today. My salary is about 50k$ a year which is almost 20k lower than what others pay.
I clearly saw him get mad by the fact that I wanted to log hours and receive this as a bonus, as I was still at work not doing anything else and pointed out that I helped our IT department when they were low on people.
I pointed out that I would need to learn quite a lot (new environments, read up on rules and regulations, government standards, etc), and I would also need to multitask with my current position as I am one out of two that can do what I currently do.
He started calling me heartless for doing this to our customers (they are the ones waiting and pushing for us to fix things) and said it wouldn’t be done quicker if I just put up demands.
I simply answered that we wouldn’t be in this situation if he had hired and trained more people before the others going on leave, he knew they were going on leave 1 year prior and had all the time in the world to hire more testers. I also told him to get back to me when he has an acceptable offer to make.
My boss called me in on Friday to chat about it and he asked why I wouldn’t take it for the same pay.
I told him that I was nobody’s bitch and that more work = more pay. I wouldn’t do that for anyone (not even him) as I provide for others as well.
Most developers with a degree don’t even get that job just because how massive knowledge you need to work up.(it even pays better than the average developer job). I have voluntarily worked up that knowledge and I expect to be paid when I need to use it.
We are holding a new meeting tomorrow.