I know I should be asking about this from known professionals on LinkedIn, but I can't resist ranting here for a minute.
I was hired on 7 months ago. My co-worker was hired on 4 months ago. Neither of us are veterans at the company. My co-worker has his BS and 10 years of experience. At time of hire, I had my MS and was nearing 20 years of experience. (I've added a significant credential since time of hire…and the pretentious people in my profession put the certification's initialsacronym after their name on emails, business cards, etc.)
And I just found out (like a few minutes ago) that he's 2 steps above me on the company paycareer scales. I understand that means his salary is ~$15k more than mine. (Likely $15k. It could only be $5k more. It could also be just shy of $60k more.)
When I've found out about things like this in the past, I bolt. But I really do like this employer (benefits are easily among the best in the US, I wouldn't be surprised to learn among the best in the world).
But I know I'm going to suck at my job being distracted by the fact that my co-worker is making a significant chunk more than me.
I don't want to storm our boss' office and demand a raise, or blatantly inform the boss that I'm done “supervising” people that are higher than me on the career chart andor making more than me (for the same duties). I need to be tactful, which I tend to suck at…it's easier to just bolt.