Almost 6 years ago I started at big tech as a little. After 4 months I was hired on full time and several weeks later I got put in as a lead for the swing shift team. They offered a $1 raise as a new hire and a temporary 10% for being a shift lead.
At this point I had 15yrs of semiconductor experience, 10yrs of training experience, 7 as a safety coordinator, and all 15 of those years I was repairing and operating multimillion dollar modules that tested microchips for defects. Decent amount of experience that should’ve gotten me more than I was making.
Fast forward two years and I got a training coordination promotion, no raise but a very real pay-cut to the tune of %38 due to losing 10% lead and swing shift compensation differential. Two promos in two years, not bad! Huge pay-cut? Apparently necessary for those that started in Mfg. Sadly little compensation still. I begin building out a training department and after 6 weeks we have a fully functioning onboarding program. I ask to lead that dept, they say no we don’t have budget for you to do this. VP visits on a whim, I recommend combining two sites together with training to enhance our synergy. He says no, bad idea.
Several months later I get invited to second site to help bring them online. 4 weeks later I have a onboarding system with 20+ courses, I was getting faster and more efficient. I picked up more larger scale training responsibilities for our research engineers to teach them some advanced manufacturing techniques, this goes well.
Boss then offers promo into PM1 position, small $1.25 raise. I scratched my head thinking I already make less than our current technicians. Our professionals must make very little money. I buildout both training depts, ask if bringing them together is a good idea yet, they said maybe but probably not.
A little while goes by while a manager and I come up with a new administrative dept to help Mfg production’s throughput and quality. It’s a smashing success, and after 4 months boss asks me if I would like to lead them. I wasn’t sure how, as I was a PM and not a people manager. The next week the entire team now reports to me. They also move one training depts employees under me too, the first one I created. This is about year 4. I ask for some financial compensation and boss says there’s no budget for it. I start asking my colleagues what they make and they all have DRASTICALLY larger wages than I make. They sing the tune of $90’s and $100k as supervisors. Weird, some of them don’t even have an education nor have they built anything from the ground up (thrice!). I ask boss why my wages are so out of sync with the rest of staff. He ignores comment and moves on.
Other leaders move on so that only me and one manager are left, then the ranks start to get filled again. New boss sets up additional PM role, we interview quite a few candidates but I had no interest in this position because I was working my dream job at a severely depressed wage. I’m good though, I have loyalty and ambition! Boss says he wants to have a manager over me and all the depts I run…. He said no need to do additional interviews as one of the candidates he and the manager interviewed would be a great selection. (Well, there goes my chance of trying for that manager position… to lead the very teams I was creating. I didn’t even get the option to interview for it because it was so last minute).
New boss is hired, I help train them with a smile. Old boss gives me a PM2 promo with no raise, unsure why, but likely tied to me helping out the other site. No money still equals more work with a promo, so I get a safety dept to build out next.
I got smart, approached new boss with previous employee data about their wages, data about industry averages for the multiple roles I’ve played over almost 5 years, as well as some internal data. Circular conversations ensue about how they need me and don’t want to see me leave(I had said nothing about leaving… interesting response there from new boss). Old boss still has 1:1s with me, not sure why, but more circular conversations continue from their end.
After several meetings like this, I told them that I understand their position, thank you for trying to fight for me verbally with all these circular compliments, but it’s time for me to think about my future and what it looks like with fair compensation.
I now have 20yrs in the semiconductor field with lots of different skills to hopefully attract the right employer. No attempts have been made to counteroffer my highball offer (doing the job of 4 managers and being paid less than a technician, is by default considered a highball offer, because they almost have to double my pay just to be at the same level of a supervisor, and that’s just one of my roles!)
5 promotions in 5 years sounds tantalizing until you realize the compensation only gets you half of what your colleagues make. Overworked, underpaid, frustrated because loyalty actually IS one sided, but hopeful for a new experience and a good company in the near future. Thanks for reading my current plight and I will have follow-ups as I get interviews or if current company attempts to keep me with it last minute shenanigans.
Zhugzhug (never a more perfect name for what those peons went through)