Live data from Hacker News

Tell HN: Salary data is for sale

news.ycombinator.com

251–260 of 805 posts

Re: Tell HN: Salary data is for sale

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So.... how much do you make?

$200/hr as a full time ML consultant. Contracting is interesting. You make more, but there’s more downside. No sick days. Though the last 3 month contract was kind enough to calculate the start and end dates to be exactly 12 work weeks (60 work days, skipping holidays) which was a nice Jedi mind trick. I still don’t get paid for Christmas, but somehow it doesn’t feel like I’m losing a day since the end date was exten…

Out of interest what’s your cv look like for that rate?

Re: Tell HN: Salary data is for sale

#253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly do employers and banks stand to gain from sharing this information? Is it an exchange of information for money?

Banks and organizations that are considering lending you credit (i.e. buying a house / car / getting a credit card) can know if you're getting in over your head with finances and might be higher risk to repay. They can set their interest rates and fees appropriately. Although all that said for any major loan the bank is going to ask you to provide detailed proof of all income, assets, etc. They likely use this servic…

[deleted]

Re: Tell HN: Salary data is for sale

#254
post #127
post #30

Learning that this website exists, and then finding detailed and accurate information in my record is what convinced me to start sharing my salary data with my peers. As I see it, this database is a breach of an implicit social contract between me and the companies that I work for. Since my employers apparently have no issues sharing my salary with their peers, I see no reason not to do the same with my peers.

If all employees share their salary information with each other, it becomes a headache for the employer. Each employee may quote the other person's salary demanding a raise. This is the reason behind the "keep your data confidential" idea.

Not sharing you salary is only beneficial to your employer.

And yes, the ability for one person say “I am doing the same work as this other person, but am receiving 72c to the dollar” is exactly why employers don’t want you sharing.

They don’t want employees to know what their labour is worth.

Re: Tell HN: Salary data is for sale

#256
post #240

Wowwww. I was really reticent to give them the info to log in, and still not sure it was a good idea (although they have it anyway...), but it's interesting -- they have my current TC exact, RSUs and everything...and that little instruction line about how to garnish wages really gives you the feels... Even better, the mystery of why a mortgage lender randomly asked me about my employment history from over two decades…

> Happy to see that the payroll processor I used for awhile for our personal companies until I started doing it myself didn't share our data, but am now really worried about future control of it.

Is there a way to find out which payroll processors or large companies report salary information to Equifax? Elsewhere in this thread people have mentioned that ADP, Intel, Google, and Facebook report, Qualcomm apparently does not… I would love to have a more complete list.

Re: Tell HN: Salary data is for sale

#257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But, I didn't opt in for them to have this information about me to begin with.

You don't need to. Your employer can give this info to whoever they want, and many give this data to Equifax or one of the other credit agencies. Also, you might give your bank employment details, and your bank will most likely send that info to a credit agency as well. There's not much of an escape.

If I bundle my personal information together into an nft and then buy that nft, could I issue the credit agency with a DMCA takedown notice?

Re: Tell HN: Salary data is for sale

#258

Very interesting, I didn't expect the accuracy and detail in this data. All of my pay from Intel, Google, Facebook is in here. Qualcomm apparently did not report. Also, Google (my latest employer) pulled the data just before I started working, after giving me an offer. My credit card company pulls the data every month, sometimes 2-3 times per month. Several mortgage originators have also pulled the data even though I…

Does the data contain start and end dates for each employer?

Yes it does.

Re: Tell HN: Salary data is for sale

#259
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow placing a freeze requires filling out a PDF form, attaching a scan of your ID, and then sending it in over email, mail, or fax. The PDF lacks built in form fields you can type in. The extra friction is probably a feature: https://assets.equifax.com/wfs/theworknumber/assets/twn_Empl... (the exif data on that PDF shows the name of the employee that created it and that they used Word 2010...) The Equifax CCPA reques…

well there's no law that forces them to make it easy.

There’s also no law that requires it be true or accurate. What a great system! :-/

Re: Tell HN: Salary data is for sale

#260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then they will just offer something in the middle and try to talk you into it. That being said, at least for the big companies the initial salary is not that important. In some ways you are just setting yourself up for disappointment since if you start at the top of the band there will be no significant raises without a promotion. For RSUs it has a pretty significant effect for 4 years though.

Then they will just offer something in the middle and try to talk you into it. You can always say no. In some ways you are just setting yourself up for disappointment since if you start at the top of the band there will be no significant raises without a promotion. It sounds like you're saying starting at 80% of the band so you can enjoy a 25% raise to get to the top is better than just starting at the top. That does…

Sure, of course it is in some was better to start at 100%.

The problem is that we all still expect to get a raise, and that cannot happen at a big company if it would take you out of band. I don't think there are many exceptions to this. If they really like you they might throw some RSUs at you, but very likely will not go over the salary for that band.

So unless you think you can get promoted right away (which requires significant luck as well), I think for long term happiness it is actually better to get salary on 80% and negotiate more on the initial RSU grant.

Post reply on HN