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I found out my direct report makes double what I make.

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Anonymous

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I found out my direct report makes double what I make. My boss left my company and we're splitting up her work. I'm supposed to take on the management side in addition to my own work (system administration of a company-wide system) and we're creating a new project manager role to handle all of the other projects we have going on. So my new boss (formerly boss's boss) is hiring this person but then they're announcing my promotion when the hiring is complete and again, this person will report directly to me.

I just found out that this new role makes twice as much as I do currently. I'm supposed to get "a small bump up" (I have gotten no specifics on what this means) when I get the promotion but they want me to wait until my anniversary in 6 months to get "the full bump up" (again no specifics). Even with this "small bump up", there's no way I'll be making anything close to this other role. I'm also not supposed to know how much this role makes. My boss has been handling the hiring... and now I know why. What do I do?

Note: my company has no HR I can go to about this. Also the person we offered this role to has a similar number of years of experience and background to me (i.e. he's not getting paid more due to more experience).

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  1. Anonymous

    That's a tough one. It happened to me once when I had been a manager for a while and we hired an internal person to report to me who was on a tech team and had a different pay structure so she made significantly more than I did. My boss realized this would be an issue so he advocated for me with HR, who were resistant at first but then agreed to at least make my salary slightly higher than my direct report. Without him advocating, I don't think it would have happened. So unfortunately I don't have great advice on this other than perhaps try to discuss the situation with your new boss.

  2. Anonymous

    I agree.
    There is safety in numbers!

  3. Anonymous

    It is up to you to speak up at this point. In my opinion, you should be making the same as the new person they are hiring. I would ask for specifics of this small bump up & then the 6 month bump up. I am sure they already have it outlined as to what it is going to be for you. The company is out for their benefit. I've had it done to me, if they can pay you less then they certainly will. If you don't advocate for yourself no one is going to do it for you. In addition, with the extra work they have given you plus supervising someone deserves to make more than the person they are supervising. For me it would lead to resentment on my part and having a bad attitude if I didn't speak up.

  4. Anonymous

    OP here. I actually doubt the company has it outlined. I will ask but I feel pretty powerless arguing for that much of an increase without revealing that I know this information

  5. Anonymous

    Don't be silent.
    Let them know how you know and ask them to paint the organizational reasons why this role would make so much more than you. Often in technical roles the manager track pays less and sometimes far less than the IC path, it's called a dual ladder. They don't align. If your bosses boss just doesn't know your depth of technical experience then you might have to educate them. In larger companies this internal compression is the reason many leaders leave for greener pastures. Perhaps once you have that chat you can decide if it is worth staying and getting more leadership experience there and moving up or moving back to the tech track or leaving completely. It is a dilemma that only you can decide to solve with additional information. If you don't get a firm response on the disparity you may just have to leave.
    You could do some research into similar compensation at other places and bring that with you to the conversation. Good luck, but do speak up!

  6. Anonymous

    Is the Project Manager a contracted role or a regular employee? Also, is the PM role highly technical? Sometimes PM's in specific high demand or technical fields command very high salaries. If it is a regular hire, then that is insulting.

    Regarding your job situation, if there hasn't been a title change or actual discussion of salary or a real timeline... that is concerning.

    What I have observed in those situations are upper management being deliberately vague to keep you there taking on work and getting the job done until they find a permanent solution or hire that isn't you. Clearly they have money, just not for you.

    You can ride it out and hope for the best, but I would recommend looking around to see what else it out there. I am sorry you're dealing with this and good luck.

  7. Anonymous

    Regular employee, not highly technical. Standard IT PM role.

  8. Anonymous

    I agree, they're treating you any way they want because you're there. Start looking around and see if they'll make good on their promises or are stringing you along.

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