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Ask HN: Why do companies pay new hires more than long time employees?

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Re: Ask HN: Why do companies pay new hires more than long time employees?

#11

Post by proc0 »

not_your_vase wrote: post #4
proc0 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking for a job is another part time job, at least for engineers who need to take technical tests.

I know very well. But that new hire somehow managed to find that time, didn't they? If they are that much better than the long term folks, than the salary parity seems to be justified by that also.

I don't think the salary difference is completely unjustified. It makes sense companies want to save as much as possible. Constantly being on a job search is not feasible though, at least not if you want to have some time for yourself and family.

There is a sort of asymmetry with how full time salary jobs work, where companies push employees to their limit, implicitly asking for all their focus (or else you risk bad reviews or worse), and at the same time they treat them like assets than can be moved around like chess pieces. The consistent thing would be to allow employees to do their job without caring about the organization, without liking the product, etc., or if the company wants that level of loyalty and passion, they should reciprocate and make sure their salary is growing with their careers and compensating for things like inflation.

Re: Ask HN: Why do companies pay new hires more than long time employees?

#13

Post by thiago_fm »

I've been seeing the entire opposite. New hires in this shitty economy are getting really smaller offers than they would 2-3 years ago.

One very clear sign of this is if you are in the management side (I am), the amount of REALLY IMPRESSIVE talent that is looking for a new job at the moment is just bonkers.

Recruitment agencies business for developers is a dying kind of business at the moment, companies can directly access top-notch talent by sorting through CVs, running tests etc (typical company recruiting process).

Re: Ask HN: Why do companies pay new hires more than long time employees?

#14

Post by BadCookie »

tekla wrote: post #10
proc0 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking for a job is another part time job, at least for engineers who need to take technical tests.

Well, this is why licensing exists.

I really, really wish we had licensing! Licensing would help with imposter syndrome, too.

Re: Ask HN: Why do companies pay new hires more than long time employees?

#16

Post by doktorhladnjak »

It's cheapest overall for an employer to pay market rate for new hires and give existing employees small, regular raises.

If you need to hire someone, you're going to have to pay market rate for a particular hire. You can pay less for less skill or in certain locations. You can try to offer below market and wait for a candidate with few options to accept. But you can't really get around this. If market pay is going up, you're going to have to pay more than for existing employees. If pay is going down, you can pay less than existing employees. Usually it is the former, but there are absolutely companies right now in the declining wage situation where they are paying new hires less.

As for existing employees, most will complain if they are being paid less than new hires, but only some fraction leave. Usually bringing everyone up to the new hire pay level costs way more than the cost from backfilling positions where someone left for more pay or to give counter offers for those you want to keep from leaving.

Re: Ask HN: Why do companies pay new hires more than long time employees?

#17

Post by playingalong »

GrumpySloth wrote: post #15
sumeruchat wrote: post #12

This is like saying why are potatoes more expensive than tomatoes. Well because the market decided so

Except tomatoes are more than 4 times as expensive as potatoes. :D

I guess it might depend on where you are

Re: Ask HN: Why do companies pay new hires more than long time employees?

#18

Post by toomuchtodo »

BadCookie wrote: post #14
tekla wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, this is why licensing exists.

I really, really wish we had licensing! Licensing would help with imposter syndrome, too.

You get this with a union/guild. Example: IBEW

https://www.ibew.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Brotherhood_of_E...

Re: Ask HN: Why do companies pay new hires more than long time employees?

#20

Post by janstice »

not_your_vase wrote: post #2

If they don't, the new hire goes to another company that does. Here is another, but related question: why don't long time employees look for a better paying opportunity?

Why not? Being the new guy/gal sucks - all the institutional knowledge that you have accumulated means that you’re much more efficient that when you move to a new place, plus you know everyone and you’ve got relationships and likely friendships that you’ve cemented over the years. When you move to a new place, you suck until you’ve worked how things work - you need to hope the excitement of a new job carries you while you find your feet.
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