No one mentions that this isn't officially implemented until 2018. Don't go into interviews expecting this to be law, and definitely use the strategies that other users have pointed out.
Massachusetts Bans Employers from Asking Applicants About Previous Pay
241–250 of 785 posts
Re: Massachusetts Bans Employers from Asking Applicants About Previous Pay
#242Might this be unconstitutional under the first amendment?
Re: Massachusetts Bans Employers from Asking Applicants About Previous Pay
#243Earlier quoted context omitted.
This reality provides one of the best arguments for a switch from a capitalist economy, in which it is shareholders who have little to do with the creation of value in the economy who ultimately benefit the most from it, to a free market socialist economy (one based on democratically owned worker cooperatives). In an economy based on worker cooperatives, the distinction between "employee" and "owner" is eliminated. I…
Consider that practically every company begins as a democratic worker-owned cooperative, and those worker-owners generally can't wait to diversify themselves out of that position. Risk exposure is a lot higher when you're a worker-owner, and most people are horribly risk-adverse. Ignoring the risk factor in the equation leads to some rather wrong conclusions.
> most people are horribly risk-adverse
Free market socialism (i.e. a large UBI + single payer healthcare + low regulation) would largely mitigate that risk aversion, especially when combined with low levels of personal debt, since if you fail you can always count on decent healthcare and the UBI check.
Re: Massachusetts Bans Employers from Asking Applicants About Previous Pay
#244I love the US and California, the tech scene is amazing and I was lucky to met such talented and friendly people in about every place I worked... from very large tech cos to "garage" startups. Which is why it pains me to see that so many engineers get stuck with such ridiculous salaries (relative to the value and wealth they provide and create). Problem is that some salaries are seemingly high compared to what the av…
Revolución.
It can be pretty demoralizing when you look at it from that perspective. We really need to have a conversation that even though passion is important and great for quality of life, it can hide real systemic problems and inequities
Re: Massachusetts Bans Employers from Asking Applicants About Previous Pay
#245Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Top companies are routinely paying $200k-300k these days Yup, all four of them - Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix.
Instead of downvoting, please check the median salary for a PRINCIPAL software engineer on Glassdoor (it is self-reported, I believe) - it is 140K, nationally. https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/principal-software-engine...
Glassdoor skews heavily downwards. Even for companies I've worked at, where I knew what everyone made, its data was roughly 25-40% below reality.
Also, why look at median salary? We're arguing over whether it's "possible" to become affluent as a mere employee—even if only the top 20% of engineers are capable of it, it's certainly possible.
Re: Massachusetts Bans Employers from Asking Applicants About Previous Pay
#246Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you ever worked on a project where management considered developers as pretty much interchangeable and added folks to the team that did more damage than good? If so, do you want to repeat that experience?
I'll say this: if you aren't writing code in a way that someone else can pick up the project when you leave, then you are being an irresponsible coder.
Irresponsible coding follows naturally from irresponsible management.
Re: Massachusetts Bans Employers from Asking Applicants About Previous Pay
#247I started off with a really low salary because I was working as a developer outside the SF bay area and in an industry that paid really low. Then moved to the bay area. Every company or recruiter tries to place you at maybe 5% to 10% more than your current job.
There was a time when I was just hopping from job to job to increase my salary. If there wasn't this convention of paying someone the same I wouldn't have switched so many jobs. There are plenty of places I wanted to stick around but got a much higher offer somewhere else so I pretty much had to switch.
My salary is more than 400% what it was 10 years ago. I feel that I have finally reached market value and have a salary I am happy with. It would have been nice if it was based on supply / demand and how well I interviewed.
That being said, I'm not sure I agree with this law. I like the outcome but not the implementation.
Having a law that says you can't ask someone something seems to violate Freedom of Speech and it sets a dangerous precedent.
Re: Massachusetts Bans Employers from Asking Applicants About Previous Pay
#248Does this sort of information get revealed in background checks for previous places of employment or is that a privacy thing?
Also is it really necessary for a state to dictate such things? Is it too much pressure for someone to respectfully decline to answer such a question and practice some negotiation skills? What exactly is the state's interest in this sort of thing precisely?
Re: Massachusetts Bans Employers from Asking Applicants About Previous Pay
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Silicon Valley it seems popular to just start your own company and capture the value that way, but other fields have solved this issue by unionizing.
Unions do not have a good history of preserving value, at least not in the USA.
Unions typically only exist when there is a huge supply chasing fewer jobs.
With tech it's the other way around.
Re: Massachusetts Bans Employers from Asking Applicants About Previous Pay
#250Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am a developer, so I am all for higher developer salaries, but your posts shows a common misunderstanding about economics. The value someone creates has nothing to do with their salary. Their salary is dictated by how many people need to hire developers and how many developers exist to fill those jobs or in simple terms, supply and demand. I might create millions of dollars in value with my code, but there might be…
Agreed. In my field, physics, salaries are low precisely because supply is high. The work is hard, and demands a lot of training/skill, but there are a lot of people who will do almost anything to stay in the field. One of the things they can do is accept a lower-than-tech-market salary.
Yes... see game programming too.