Eclipse_images | E+ | Getty Images
New York City tech workers go viral Thanks to the city’s new Pay Transparency Act, learning a role in her position was advertised online, offering up to $90,000 a year.
Kimberly Nguyen, 25, a user experience writer by contract for Citigroup, said she learned about the discrepancy when the company posted a job posting on LinkedIn for the same role as her current role. Since the company is hiring in New York City, the job listing must state a salary range, so the new hire’s projected salary will be $32,000 to $90,000 higher than his current salary. I understand.
So she applied for the job.
She wrote on Twitter on Tuesday: “My company posted a job opening on LinkedIn for the job I’m currently doing (hence the hiring of another UX writer). It’s $32,000 to $90,000 more than you’re paying me, so I applied.”
Nguyen told CNBC Make It that he earns $85,000 a year working as a contractor for Citi. LinkedIn posts from Citi We list full-time UX openings that require five to eight years of experience with salaries of $117,200 to $175,800 per year. By Wednesday, a post said the company was no longer accepting applications.
A Citi spokesperson told CNBC Make It that the company pays market-competitive service fees to Photon, a contract service, but Photon negotiates individual rates. Photon did not respond to his CNBC Make It request for comment.
A Citi spokesperson added that the company has posted salary ranges on all US job ads since mid-October. The company came under fire for posting several job openings with salaries ranging from $0 to $2 million in November, when the New York City law took effect.
Nguyen said she had been discussing salary at work and asking for a raise for “months.”
She also tried to get a competing offer to negotiate a pay rise, but was told the city did not have the budget to raise her contract wage. says he began receiving furloughs and eventually canceled his job postings.
After seeing the job listing on Tuesday, Nguyen said he posted the link in a group chat with fellow UX writers, leading to an impromptu meeting at work with HR.
Nguyen told CNBC Make It that he was told, “Citi claims it can’t control contractors’ salaries.”
“As a contractor, I am in a pretty vulnerable position,” she adds. “The full-time employee conversion hangs in front of me like a reward that may or may not actually be guaranteed.”
Nguyen has officially joined the job market for new UX writing jobs, either remotely or in New York, and said she expects to earn more than $125,000 given her skill set and the market, taking to Twitter. I have closed the thread. She is also a poet and she has written several books.
She said the new Pay Transparency Act “has changed my life. I won’t apply for a low-paying position that’s advertised.”
Nguyen said he never expected his tweet to resonate with so many people and hopes it will lead to greater transparency and accountability for fair pay.
“I’m really happy that the dialogue has started. I’m glad that companies are feeling more pressure, but nobody benefits by just firing each other,” Nguyen wrote on Twitter. Instead, she encourages people to call their elected officials and have a transparency law passed in their state. Finally, she added, “Talk about your salary!”
Ruth Thomas, payscale pay equity strategist, says employers can address similar situations by being proactive in market adjustments for potentially underpaid workers and by communicating wage strategies to employees. It says it should be avoided.
“It’s important not only to pay employees fairly, but to explain why their wages are fair,” she says. “Open communication about pay is one of her most important aspects of employee engagement.”
Regarding a possible person in Nguyen’s position, Thomas adds: You know your worth and appreciate the market you serve. “
Do not miss it: Want to make money, work and life smarter and more successful? Sign up for our new newsletter!
check out:
Meet 6 trailblazers from the NFL, Coast Guard, Hollywood and more
64% of women say they can do their boss’s job better than they can, but they don’t get the chance.
Men and women were equally likely to ask for a raise this year, but men were more likely to get a raise
