Pay disparity in my startup.
I'm working as a Frontend developer (SDE-1) with 1.5yoe, I joined this startup 4 months back. Earlier I was getting paid 9lpa and later I was offered 12lpa without even asking for my previous compensation. I accepted because my earlier organisation was very toxic. Now coming to the point, I came to know that for the same level and same role they're paying 16+lpa. And this is making me mad at them. Within 3 months I'm handling 1 of their 2 products (customer facing) all alone. And I'm doing great work tbh (not boasting) but if they have 10 major features. I have developed 4 of them all alone, solved really critical down time bugs and improved the product. Now I own this product and if any bugs come, I'm the person who's assigned the work. I want to have a chat with the Founder but I'm not sure what to say and he's a guy who will try to save the money at all costs. I'm really mad at this point of time and I'm planning to leave in a few months. If I have a chat with him and he says something harsh, I will resign then and there I'm triggered to this level. And there was no kind of appreciation from them, I'm taking most tickets during the sprints and delivering quality code, communicating well and thinking in terms of product, if there is anything which can be improved I ask from them. How do I have a chat with him and what do I say? Current CTC - 12lpa Expected CTC - 16 - 20lpa YOE- 1.5 (planning to have the call around 3-4 months later), so I will be almost 2 yoe by then.
You are being paid 75% of what others are being paid at the same level.
Reduce your inputs by 75% to achieve fair parity (no. of tickets or work hours or whatever).
Use the saved time to prepare for your job switch.
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
You know if I reduce my work to 75% he will fire me.
I know and I feel bad that they're extracting work from me and I'm not happy at the moment when I see others getting paid more than me in the same company where I dedicate more time of my life and in return I get peanuts.
I want to confront him in the coming months, what do I tell him? And should I do this once I'm interviewing or have an offer or I can talk without these?
I'm so frustated that I want to leave this job today.
Ideally, you should get atleast 1 offer first and ideally 1 offer that you can accept. Because if they're willing to fire you even now, they'll be more willing to fire you when you confront them.
You can share ypur concerns on being underpaid compared to others with the same role once you confront. You can suggest corrective measures - backfilling old comp + hikes
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Joined as FE(2 years exp now). 6 months in new company, 1000+ commits, refactored existing code -94k.
Added new modules e2e on FE. +55k lines of code.
Adding quality code(Praised by ex Manager for code quality, readability etc), doing code review and maintain the same with FE team.
Pushed team for Security fixes, code quality, optimization.
Working on BE, AWS, developed features e2e. Fixing prod issues, did datafix on prod DB(1500 client records) No new bug.
Still getting 40% lesser than peers. š„ŗ
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Same bro same whatever you mentioned I do 80% of that work. I'm very pissed off for real now. Bro what do I ask my founder, I really want to have a chat with him? And should I do it once I'm in an interview process with others or how to proceed?
Since you've less than 3 years of exp and seeing current market situation, I'd suggest to continue your work and maintain the pace for next 2-3 months. Once 6 months is completed, talk to the founder, explain the work and efforts you've put in, talk about the product, how the team can scale from here and what you have in your mind about the pay( in feel in a polite way) and ask for raise. That's the only way.
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Like someone else said, put in the percentage of work w.r.t what you are being paid compared to your peers. They'll come back asking what happened. You can confront them about it, and maybe have another offer in hand JIC things get wild and you'll have to resign ASAP.
But hey, frontend dev here as well. 1YoE. Laid off 6 months ago. Still not getting a job bcz of companies that I interviewed for, literally ghosting in the end moment. So, I feel happy that you have a job that's keeping you financially stable, unlike me trying to make ends meet and on super savings mode since my layoff. Any suggestions that helped you land a job easily?
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
All the best bro, I didn't do anything exceptional. Just followed some js tutorials and also famous interview questions list of react. That's it. I wish you get a great job asap and then post about it so that I can come back and oat your back, that you finally made it. Stay strong and don't let your doubts win against your will.
Thanks a lot, bro. I wish there was a DM feature so that we could connect.
Yes, I've started upskilling since last week. I'm exceptionally good at react and JS, because I've focused on being the best I could be with these. Despite that, I still got rejected and I felt lost, questioning my own skills. Learning NextJS now as I'm building a simple full stack app for personal use. Hoping to add it on my resume as a highlight. Oh btw, do projects on resume give a high boost to your profile?
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Can you email me on [email protected] with your relevant work experience, we might have a job offer for you that matches your expectations :)
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Hey, thanks a lot. I've sent an email to you. Kindly check whenever you have time.
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BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Edit - The team size is very small 10-20 people.
ThisChest94
Stealth
10 months ago
They are usually open to market correction once they know you perform well. Go to your manager and HR and speak to them. Highlight your work and let them know you're being paid 30% less would like a market correction in the appraisal cycle. Be firm on the work you do. Mostly they are willing to close the gap.
If that fails, look for a new job
Also learn the lesson your way - you were offered 12 and you took it. Next time ask someone on the team before committing to the salary and negotiate your way higher.
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Thank you, I learned the hard way. I will keep your advice in mind. Now I'm feeling betrayed and taken advantage of, so I will leave once the market provides an opportunity to me.
RapchikBidu
Stealth
10 months ago
Which startup is this though?
Bumpy_Stock
Stealth
10 months ago
Clearly you are a smart engineer. Get another job offer and use that to your advantage to negotiate CTC in your company. It will be much easier. And be patient. And there is no appreciation in the company. Welcome to the real world.
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Thanks a lot, I will follow this
This is quite common and only solution is exit. You might face this again in future
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Thanks bro
I understand bro. I would suggest you to approach this objectively.
Ask yourself, if they fire you today or say even after two months, do they have anyone who can replace you immediately or knows your stuff in and out. Often startups can't do this, atleast for tech guys. If you actually contributed at that critical level, you have an edge in negotiation. If that is true, i suggest, go out and try to get an offer around 19-20(higher side of what you are expecting) and then have a very straightforward, fair conversation with founder. If he really cares about your role, he won't mind giving you the rise.
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Thanks a lot bro, actually earlier 2 Engineers (2yoe and 5yoe) were handling the product which I'm working on, now they've given the complete responsibility to me and I'm the kone ranger working on the product. They definitely know the product, but since last 4 months from smallest to biggest changes are done by me only, so I'm not sure how deep they know but they're also very good engineers.
Yeah I'm aiming for 20+ and once I get somewhere close to it, I will leave. I am feeling betrayed now
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Lone*
You guys are getting 16+ lpa?
5 years of experience in angular, 3 years in react
Still stuck at 6lpa
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Bhai interviews dijiye mai khud dunga.
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
I know and I feel bad that they're extracting work from me and I'm not happy at the moment when I see others getting paid more than me in the same company where I dedicate more time of my life and in return I get peanuts.
I want to confront him in the coming months, what do I tell him? And should I do this once I'm interviewing or have an offer or I can talk without these?
I'm so frustated that I want to leave this job today.
Build a black box, own the customer centric product. Leverage this black box by telling them you will leave you don't get a raise. Go one step further and do this when some other member of your team is leaving.
Trust me its always better to retain than hire and give context for a founder.
Fuck those fuckers.
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Sounds good bro. I will try but now I'm mentally hurt and today I asked for leave and they refused even when I told them my emergency
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
š
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
No it doesn't
Get an offer asap. If you like working here, show that offer in current org to get a raise.
If you donāt like and think new org will be better, leave.
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Thanks, it helps
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
No sir
Gender pay parity is a real thing - was just curious to understand if that could be a reason.
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ExpertRobe62
Stealth
10 months ago
Happens bro, I was working at a place where my fixed was 12 and I didnāt knew that even freshers from Tier 1 getting 21 base..whom I trained there.
Raised my concern to Manager but he didnāt do much so I Prepared and left
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
Hey bro, my CTC is exactly 12.30lpa. How did you prepare and after work how you kept the discipline to prepare and apply for interviews?
ExpertRobe62
Stealth
10 months ago
Take time everyday outside work, start applying aggressively, be better in tech stack that you use and do DSA practice based on your target companies
DonaldTrump
Student
10 months ago
Look at your performance, College/University Brand Value, Cross check technologies you both working on and mainly if the other guy is fresher or experienced
BearBear
Stealth
10 months ago
The level of work I do has nothing to do with my college, and I did my engineering from a very decent college, technologies are the same we work on, The other guy is an experienced guy who is working from last 2 years in the same company and I do the same amount of tasks and of same complexities what he or other guys do. And I equally participate in giving suggestions to improve the product as well. They know the amount of work I do,but they've taken advantage of my situation in the past. Now, I'm not getting calls due to the market situation or I don't know. As soon as I get a good offer from a decent company, I won't stay here because I feel betrayed
