It’s an oft-discussed topic in general terms, but rarely do we see people talking specifically about how much money they make. On May 1, International Worker’s Day, people are sharing their salaries to Twitter with the hashtag #TalkPay in an effort to highlight pay inequality and encourage salary transparency.
#TalkPay began as an effort from computer programmer Lauren Voswinkel. In an article for Model View Culture, Voswinkel wrote, “The lack of knowledge regarding reasonable salaries and predatory behaviors in tech companies can be directly attributed to the social taboo surrounding people talking openly about their salaries.”
Pay inequality is not just a problem in technology, but in industries everywhere. Women earn 78 cents per dollar white men earn, and for women of color that discrepancy is even worse—Hispanic and Latina women earn 54% of what white men are paid, and African American women earn 64%, according to data from the American Association for University Women.
Following Voswinkel’s lead, tech workers began tweeting their salaries, including historical pay data from jobs and companies going back years. It’s an illuminating look at the differences between gender, race, and career history.
2011-2012: QA Engineer $50K
— Serenity Discko (@serenitydiscko) May 1, 2015
2012: Social Media Manager $40K
2013: Creative Strategist $65K#TalkPay
https://twitter.com/EricaJoy/status/594145790743851008
https://twitter.com/radiomorillo/status/594115160626831360
https://twitter.com/iroc/status/594015263525179392
#talkpay i work for yelp (sf, remote) as, like, imagine indiana jones but for legacy code
— eevee 💨 (@eevee) May 1, 2015
been here 3 years, 3ish exp before this
$145k
https://twitter.com/fatneckbeardguy/status/594013768243286017
https://twitter.com/vogon/status/593991242943332352
looks like #talkpay is getting started early. another white-cis-male dev in SF datapoint: $148k on a Berkeley CS degree and five years exp
— 🏳️🌈 Sam Kimbrel | @skimbrel@tech.lgbt (@skimbrel) May 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/aredridel/status/593972176568655872
My 1st developer job was $11/hr 13yrs ago. 2 years ago my salary was over $150k. Now as a founder I make a tiny fraction of that :) #talkpay
— sarajo (@SaraJChipps) May 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/mperham/status/594154577772982272
Since rebooting my career in 2010 to become a freelance ruby developer, I averaged ~$55K per year. On target for $85K+ this year. #talkpay
— Prakash Murthy (@_prakash) May 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/tinysubversions/status/594214449059356673
https://twitter.com/kissane/status/594220166935883776
https://twitter.com/kissane/status/594220483266158592
Though the conversation centered around tech, people from other industries began sharing their salaries, too.
Oh & since #talkpay grew from tech pay convos… at Valleywag in 2008 I was paid $1200-$1500/month for 3 shortish posts per day.
— Melissa Gira Grant (@melissagira) May 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/yaelwrites/status/594202118262685697
https://twitter.com/lemonsand/status/594210382408912896
Hundreds of people are contributing to the #TalkPay hashtag on Twitter. And while some of the tweets contain salary data, others describe what makes it difficult to talk about in the first place.
I'll start with some hard truth for #talkpay. The reason it's hard for me is not because I don't feel comfortable or safe.
— Marco Rogers (@polotek) May 1, 2015
@linclark @polotek One thing I'm learning from #talkpay is that there is no such thing as 'typical'.
— This is Not an Overreaction (@mudlock) May 1, 2015
Voswinkel says that in order to eliminate bias and pay inequality, people must have open and profound discussions about it, not only within companies, but publicly, too. Friday’s #talkpay discussion is one way to begin that conversation—and hopefully, begin to change things for the better.
Photo via U.S Embassy Tel Aviv/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)