Tenured employees question. Anyone with a company 20+ years find out coworkers with with 12+ years of service make 25% more? Found this out recently and I’m not amused.

20 Comments

1. Becky EisenMay 8,2026 at 1:13PM UTC

   I have seen this happen when coworkers come from another company that pays more, so they negotiated in at a higher rate. You can definitely use this as a negotiating point in asking for a higher salary - you don't need to say how you found out, simply that you understand coworkers who came from companies with a higher starting salary are earning significantly more than you, and therefore you would like a salary adjustment to maintain parity.

2. AnonymousMay 10,2026 at 1:05AM UTC

   i actually did go to HR. I didn’t name names and I kept it very vague. They came back to me weeks later to tell me my salary is “in range” with fellow co-workers (yeah sure). A whole big nothing burger unfortunately.

3. AnonymousMay 12,2026 at 12:26PM UTC

   In my experience this rarely works and if anything puts a target on your back with HR. You cannot make the coworker salary comparison argument. You need to compare your skills and experience to the market rate and further negotiate that against the cost of on-boarding someone new.

4. AnonymousMay 8,2026 at 8:40PM UTC

   Yes, this is to be expected across the board. Companies value a varied background and being exposed to a variety of processes and environments. Its not like back in the 60s & 70s when loyalty was king.

   Now days Companies must pony up more $ and incentives to attract top talent. Employers simply don't value the people who stick around forever. Anything over 5-7 years is viewed as stale.

5. AnonymousMay 10,2026 at 1:02AM UTC

   It’s a shame really. At the point, if I can hang in 8 years I can retire. I certainly won’t make the same money I do now in the same field. I don’t want to interview at my age these days. I tell anyone now that loyalty to an employer is nonexistent. It’s just maddening when my coworkers with 11-14 years of service are making 25% more. Ugh

6. AnonymousMay 11,2026 at 1:35PM UTC

   You need to ask for a raise

7. AnonymousMay 11,2026 at 1:35PM UTC

   I do not necessarily agree with the reply above. Recruitment and retention are some of an employer's highest costs, And rapid turnover, and the need to offer higher and higher salaries to hire new staff, diminishes profitability for an employer. At the same time, The volume of experience and information that an experienced employee offers is extremely valuable to the stability of a corporation. There are a lot of variables that come into play When there are stark differences in salary. The annual raise of two or three percent has simply not outpaced what is needed to get younger folks on board, But that doesn't mean that the longstanding employee is no longer valued. Managers and corporations are profoundly busy and the squeaky wheel is the one that gets the grease. If you feel that you deserve an increase in pay, Simply ask for it. The answer will tell you a lot about how much or how little you are valued

8. AnonymousMay 10,2026 at 2:01PM UTC

   I have never remained at a company for more than 3 years without a promotion and beyond 6 years no matter what. I move around to make more $ . I have always increased my comp with each move. I continue to out-earn my peers by 30% and am seen as far m9re "valuable " Am I? Of course not but it's all about perception.

9. AnonymousMay 12,2026 at 12:24PM UTC

   Loyalty costs the employee not the company. This is why its encouraged to switch company's if money is your motivation. Otherwise you will be nickel and dimed with raises and promotions.

10. AnonymousMay 12,2026 at 12:31PM UTC

    Yes, it's one of the many prices we pay for staying with a company for 20+ years. Loyalty doesn't pay.

11. AnonymousMay 12,2026 at 12:49PM UTC

    I appreciate how this might really put you off.

    But are you employed by an academic institution, in that you have real tenure? Because I'm not aware that this is actually a recognised employee status for publicly-traded or private corporations. In other words, loyalty is not typically valued and rewarded.
    Are there published salary ranges and bands established by your employer that you can use to your benefit?
    If you still want to stay there and not deal with the job market, I would use this info to negotiate an increase, especially if you have other protected characteristics besides being a woman (race, ethnicity, age, religion etc) and your colleague is male, younger, etc etc.

12. AnonymousMay 12,2026 at 1:30PM UTC

    My daughter has been with her company 10 years and recently found out that new hires in her position are being brought in making more than she is. Some of this has to do with the rise in minimum wage, so lower level employees are being brought in at more and the higher level employees expect to be compensate at far more than the lower level employees.

    She has gone to upper management and asked to be compensated at a fair rate higher than the new hires without her experience with the company. She was initially told that it was not possible so has been actively looking outside of the company for a new position. She is the top producer in her company at what she does, so once they got wind that she was looking for a new job they have now started negotiations to try to keep her.

13. Dr. Patty GrossMay 12,2026 at 3:41PM UTC

    This happens because the market rates rise faster than the company's annual salary adjustments. The more in demand the position, the bigger the gap can be, which is why many people do not stay in jobs more than 4-5 years anymore. I worked for a company for 22 years before they laid me off. They replaced me with someone with less than half my experience at about 70-80 percent of my salary.

14. AnonymousMay 12,2026 at 4:48PM UTC

    Not everyone is paid the same, there are formulas, tenure is not usually a factor and often someones education and experience elsewhere is part of things. If you are far apart and you feel underpaid ask for a review and use that and checking the outside market to see if your value could be higher elsewhere or if they could shift an give you more. Then you can decide if you want to stay knowing that you make less than others in the same role as you there. If you cannot deal with it your only option is to leave or call it out. Usually calling it out someone else making more than you to leadership is not good for you so tread lightly when you bring things up. Good luck.

15. AnonymousMay 13,2026 at 12:54PM UTC

    Happens all the time. Seasoned, tenured employees are not seen as the "future" and so many people impacted.

16. Kim PfeifferMay 13,2026 at 3:12PM UTC

    Happens all the time. We're hired at a rate competitive at that time and then receive a standard 2-5% raise each year, which hardly covers inflation, much less any kind of performance boost. Meanwhile, new hires are hired at today''s competitive rate.

17. Michelina StoddardMay 13,2026 at 4:30PM UTC

    There are a lot of articles online about why switching jobs every 2-3 years results in net higher earnings than staying in the same job for 5+ years. STRONGLY recommend looking into this topic more. Total game changer.

    I was lucky enough to be able to work with a career coach who was able to show me how to navigate this properly, which I strongly recommend for anyone in your situation. It does require an investment, but I've found it's well worth the money.

    If that isn't an option for your situation right now, there are free resources online that can help as well. A lot of career coaches produce free content on LI, blogs, podcasts, etc, that can be really helpful, but you do have to look for it.

    At the end of the day, it's totally reasonable to approach them to discuss your compensation and negotiate for a fair market value raise. However, this has to be done tactfully after you've done research on what you should be making AND after you've had a chance to research/practice how to have these conversations.

    A friend of mine went into a conversation about compensation recently without doing this kind of prep, and was immediately gaslighted and steamrolled by her supervisor. She ultimately got a small "bonus" after a follow-up conversation. Of course, that "bonus" in no way made up for the fair market salary increase she deserves, and her confidence was hit really hard by that experience.

    The downside is that, if after doing all of that, you aren't able to get the raise you deserve, you have to be prepared to either 1) be ok with getting less than you deserve (and trust me, they don't care nearly as much about "loyalty" as we'd like to think), or 2) start working on your exit strategy. It's a tough decision, but with guidance and encouragement, it's very possible, even in today's job market.

18. AnonymousMay 14,2026 at 8:56PM UTC

    I work for a public institution so all of our salaries are public information. New hires at a lower classification level are being paid much more than I make (I have been there 40 years). When I asked about it, I was told this is because that's what they have to pay to get good employees. What am I chopped liver? They then hand the person over to me to train because I "know so much". They say things like "if you retired tomorrow, I don't know what we would do". Make that make sense. As a result of this treatment, when I do retire, they will get about 4 hours notice.

19. Christina NavarroMay 15,2026 at 12:58PM UTC

    I ran into this with the prior company I worked for. I was managing a team and my employees were making up to 30% more than me. I stayed a few more years and fought for pay but eventually got offered a position at another company with a huge increase. HR told me at the time I needed to leave to get what I deserved. They weren't wrong. Business tend to pay external employees more to entice them.

20. AnonymousJuly 2,2026 at 6:54AM UTC

    Of course this happens everywhere. I spent a 40 year career bouncing around never spending more than 5 years at a single company solely yo make leaps in compensation. I always made 30% more than my peers who opted to stay put. Employers respond to market pressures to pay for fresh or fresher talent. Loyalty doesn't get you anywhere. Sure staying put is safer but it's death to career growth. And reward follows risk most often.