...to ask why new team members are paid 40% more?

[Cerulean60]

AIBU to want to know more about why new people coming in are paid so much higher? Obviously it is to attract them in, but what about to retain the rest of us?!

Ask.
Or you could apply somewhere else and get taken on at a higher rate. 40% is a huge difference.

Totally not BU.

I'd go in with an open tone using phrases such as 'keen to understand' and 'explore the issue of'. There might be legitimate reasons that you're not aware of, or they could be about to raise the salaries of all the team. If they are on 40% more they will already know they have a ticking time bomb with existing salaries.

The recruitment market is very hot at the moment, salaries are having to rise to attract candidates. In my experience, it's new hire salaries that rise first, and then the rest of the team. Not to say that's the right way, but it is realistically how it works in my experience (private sector, competitive roles)

What sector is that out of curiosity

I was in a similar situation, so left.

In my exit interview I asked why there was suddenly a budget to pay new joiners with same levels of experience 50-55k, when existing high performers were on 35k.

Silence.

Almost as much silence as me telling them my new salary was paying me 63k.

@Cerulean60

AIBU to want to know more about why new people coming in are paid so much higher? Obviously it is to attract them in, but what about to retain the rest of us?!

Employers often know they have to offer a good wage to recruit people, by employees will stay in their current role for very little.

Businesses always pay as little as they get away with.

Different levels of experience or professional qualifications? I've only experienced this once where the person was a pharmacist and moved from London but kept London salary weighting.

40% is a huge difference though.

It also is an acknowledgement of the risk of moving jobs - namely that it is easier to make newer joiners redundant and the risk the move won't work out.

The employment market is red hot in some sectors at the moment, market forces mean that employers have little choice but to pay higher wages to get people to join. It is up to you whether you can be bothered to move in order to take advantage of those market conditions. I would advise anyone to do just that, I see over and over again people that have stayed with a company for 10 years or more being vastly underpaid compared to colleagues who have moved around every three years or so.

People often think that is unfair, but that is because they have failed to understand that capitalism isn't fair. Rather than waste time being annoyed you are much better off understanding the system and making sure it works for you occasionally.

I'm paid 25% more than my line manager - I'm better qualified, more experienced & as has become apparent a lot more capable than he is.

The reason for the higher salary though is that this is what I asked for & they were willing to pay it.

Sometimes you have to move around to hike your salary up. I would still say something though.

40% is alot, we have discrepancies at work, new starters get the going market rate, but historical pay rises have been non existent so people get left behind and management are reluctant to give steep pay rises to catch the long term employees up

Good wages should go up!

Tell them you want more or you will walk! It’s likely they will pay up.

Thanks all. In this case there is no obvious experience or qualification difference (although yes there may be things I'm not aware of).

I was going to speak up but chatted to a colleague first - who is paid the same as me for the same job - and he wasn't bothered, so I wondered if it was just me being silly.

I will ask nicely for more information about how things work.