TLDR: At 4 years with the company, I made less than the new guys. At 6 years and a promotion, I make the same amount. My boss was more concerned about how I knew coworkers wages rather than addressing why he was paying a person with more qualifications less than the newbies. Job hunting has commenced.
I work in I.T. for a national grocery chain and, for the most part, I love my job. I get a company car, fuel card, credit card, cell phone, and no boss breathing down my neck all the time. One downside is that I am on-call 24/7 unless I schedule time off and we aren't allowed to leave our areas during major holidays. I travel around to various stores repairing stuff. Our division was brand new when I started and I was the third person hired of seven. In the six years I've been here, two techs quit, two were fired, and one retired. All techs start as tech 3. Only me and one other tech have any degrees in I.T. and the other techs degree is in computer forensics.
Two years ago, I discovered that two of the techs they just hired were making slightly more than I was. I have an associates and a bachelors in I.T. and 20 years of experience. They have no related schooling and were brand new to the field. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy. However, I'm a patient person and I was still making ends meet so I said nothing though a couple time I wrote up a letter to my boss about my frustrations but never sent it. Last year, they promoted me from a tech 3 to a tech 4. I was pretty excited as it meant the regular (and pathetic) 2% raise each year was 7% (2% for the raise and 5% for the promotion) this time and the raise was needed as prices began to go up.
Recently, another position opened up that originally my bosses wanted me to fill but would require a lot more travel. The upside would be not being on-call. This was originally before my promotion but they didn't get approval till after it. In the end, my wife and I decided it wasn't a good fit for us, especially since they weren't going to offer any kind of raise.
They ended up hiring another guy and he's been a pretty good fit. He has no schooling in the area but does have some experience at other jobs. I was asked to train him (as I did the other two guys mentioned above) and one day while on a long drive to the middle of nowhere, the topic of wages came up. He assumed I easily made more than him and just flat told me his wage… It was more than I made by about 21 cents. He felt bad about it once I commented that I actually made a bit less than that.
I didn't get upset with him, it wasn't his fault but I finally broke my silence and chatted with my boss (over teams) about how I am one of two techs with any kind of degree in our field and I am constantly helping other techs. While I do like my boss for being laid back, I was very upset that his main concern was where I had learned other techs wages. I told him I talked to the others as is legally allowed and regardless of that, I also had seen plenty of job postings of similar jobs that paid more. He basically ended it by saying I shouldn't believe everything I hear and that once our wages are set, it's really hard to change them outside the normal wage increase. So I told him that they should consider fixing my wages then and make sure that it's better than the pathetic 2% we've been getting, especially since cost of living has sky rocketed this year.
A couple months later, we get our June raise… 2.9% and it's the same raise for ALL of us. One of the techs I work with is constantly messing around and calling me and wasting time and my boss knows this yet he gets the same raise as me. One of my other coworkers told me the amount his raise went up instead of the percentage.. It was the exact same amount as mine. By basic math, (and asking him) I confirmed that I make the exact same amount… Despite my promotion I am making far less than I should.
The frustration has been increasing as I continue putting up with things I have realized I'm just not paid to put up with anymore. With the cost of everything going up, the only way I have enough money for food for the family and bills is to ensure I get at least 5 hours OT each week, something my boss frowns on.
I have started looking for other jobs and may have found a good one I like (turning in application this weekend). I have not bothered to tell my boss (he had his chance when I expressed my frustration with wages in the first place), though I have told the coworkers I like (who I know won't tell my boss).