I started a new job a few months ago – substantially better pay and QOL than before. I work in compensation, and for once I was surprised to see pay practices that (I thought) were ethical and I felt comfortable with. Getting settled in and thought, “maybe I finally found a good place to work.”
I was going through a table of mark-ups we used for cost of living by state (USA), and noticed some were waaay low. I asked about at and the boss lady told me straight:
“We don't have an obligation to pay a livable wage. We pay to market.”
I snapped out of the dream, the new relationship high right then and there. Never seen a manager so upfront about that before.