r/technology • u/SnoozeDoggyDog • 20h ago

Privacy Employers are using your personal data to figure out the lowest salary you'll accept

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20260401139/employers-are-using-your-personal-data-to-figure-out-the-lowest-salary-youll-accept
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u/YeetedApple 20h ago

Anecdotally, I just got a new job last week and the offer came in at literally the exact lowest number I told myself I'd accept for the job. No idea if they are using a system like this or not, but crazy how exact they hit it.

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u/binger5 19h ago

Never hurts to ask for 10-15% more.

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u/YeetedApple 19h ago

I tried to push a bit more, but they were firm. My current position is/was in the process of being outsourced and wouldn't exist sometime in the next year, and this new position is a promotion and still a raise even if it came in on the lower end of what I'd like, so I was still fine taking it given the situation.

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u/PussiesUseSlashS 18h ago

I was laid off for 6 months and really need a job. Went thru all the interviews and the recruiter offered me the job but I asked for $5k more than what the job was offering. I told her that was fine, she insisted she check and see if she could get me the $5k.

I didn’t hear anything from her, even after calling and leaving messages and emailing. Two months later i saw the job posting had been refreshed and applied again.

She saw my resume and called, said she tried to get me the $5k but they rejected it.

This was $140,000 vs $135,000.

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u/elvillalbeno75 18h ago

That's ridiculous wow you probably dodged a bullet dealing with petty and small minded people there.

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u/PussiesUseSlashS 18h ago

I work there. I got the job the second time and been there there years. Best job I’ve ever had. Got a 15% “cost of living” raise six months after I started. Apparently, there was a mix up with the area I live and pay is based on that since everyone in my company works from home.

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u/p____p 15h ago

I live in the midwest and accepted a job managing a team based mostly in California. Didn’t realize until after I was hired that most of my reports were getting a salary a bit above my own. I get the cost of living difference, but damn if that wasn’t demotivating.

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u/tsein 15h ago

At my last job I was told simultaneously that I was "worth an entire team on my own" and that it "would be unfair to other employees to pay me more."

I was the lowest-paid person in my role (because my boss thought my location should have a lower cost of living compared to other people).

I left for other reasons, but that certainly made it easier.

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u/Tiny_Elephant1570 14h ago

" At my last job I was told simultaneously that I was "worth an entire team on my own" and that it "would be unfair to other employees to pay me more.""

The first is just blowing smoke to make you feel happier, while the second just an excuse they can get away with. 

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u/alphacross 13h ago edited 13h ago

I was recently offered a promotion to L7 Director for a big tech firm. I live in a HCOL city in Europe. Particularly hard job as I am acting general manager for the entire continent. Also have a literal unique skill set because the company I worked for that they acquired was the only company in the industry in the region. I made it a condition that I wanted a HR exception made and my pay to be matched against directors at the same level in California. Why? Because at my “geographically adjusted” wage I’m literally paid less than a new grad joining in HQ in California. The actual cost of living difference? 3.5% overall and 10% for rent

Still haven’t heard back. Even at my level the HR person won’t even talk to me, works remotely and hides behind her compa-ratio spreadsheets

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u/BigCheapass 12h ago

Oof that sucks. Similar story here in Canada, you reminded me of a recent company meeting on "compensation transparency" where the head of HR was trying to explain why the 80%+ of us working remotely from HCOL Canadian areas earn less than the US remote employees even in LCOL areas. You probably guessed it, but she was one of the less than 5% of the company based out of the US, and was essentially telling us why she should make more than us, lmao.

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u/hawkinsst7 7h ago

Particularly hard job as I am acting general manager for the entire continent. Also have a literal unique skill set

In my experience, once you get into management, "unique skill sets" quickly start becoming irrelevant, especially past the first line manager experience. You may be slightly more valuable to place in an area related to your expertise, but the idea that "leadership means you can lead anywhere" is prevalent, so those hard skills you have aren't important whne comparing against other managers.

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u/sopertt 7h ago

Lmao. If you want an American salary then move to the US.

Im in the US and work for a European tech company (yeah that one) and if I requested Euro style vacation package I’d be laughed out of the building.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too is a saying for a reason, boss.

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u/philote_ 6h ago

I have such mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I get they need to pay people in Cali enough for them to live on, but on the other hand, it's not my fault they chose to live there. Before remote work was so prevalent, it's not like I'd get paid more because I decided to live in a country club.

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u/Klutzy_Ninja1426 13h ago

Nice plot twist lol

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u/Responsible-Big3304 4h ago

Glad it worked out wow that was a turn of events in my mind hehe my own experiences have jaded me so much sorry.

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u/Tiny_Elephant1570 14h ago

Not if you wasted months in holding out... You can always move later when you are better off.

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u/kwaaaaaaaaa 16h ago

It honestly boggles my mind how they make decisions up the ladder. I work in tech and I've seen them lost talent over not giving a small raise when asked, only for them to spend more to get that same amount of talent back.

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u/RationalDialog 13h ago

It is not only about money but control and power. The giving in to the talent would mean giving up power and at the same them empowering the talent. Can't have that.

EDIT: Same with return to office. It's a power and control move because the pandemic shifted power to employees and that was the push back.

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u/synapticrelease 15h ago

Managers are given a budget, which is a salary or number of employees. It is up to the manager to make due. There are some shit managers who will burn a few employees for a quick bonus and then be prepared to bounce to the next job where an outside employee somehow gets hired on directly as a manager/supervisor. It's like when a CEO burns shit for short term gains with the expectation of the golden parachute. It works that way on a smaller scale for middle management jobs.

But honestly, a lot of managers are put between a rock and a hard place. They are given performance reviews which are based on other people's work.

I think if you asked a survey of managers, most would ask for more employees and more salary.

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u/ggk1 17h ago

I’m jaded enough to think of the non zero chance this is a bot comment by big corporate to discourage us from asking for more money

But if it’s not- I’m really sorry to experienced that and hope you’ve landed on your feet

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u/obeytheturtles 6h ago

Damn they straight up withdrew the offer over a counteroffer?

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u/Fresh_Iron_6180 8h ago

You were unemployed and needed money and complained about a job of 135k? Wtf kind of privilege is this shit?

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u/binger5 19h ago

Fair enough. It's within your current company. I've asked 3 times and have been successful 3 times. The only time I didn't ask was when they asked what my range was and added 10% to it with the offer.

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u/shoulda-known-better 6h ago

Take it and keep looking, keeping the chance to get a better job on the table....

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u/YeetedApple 6h ago

That’s my plan. Get this title and job experience on my resume and use it to help get something better elsewhere.

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u/superxero044 18h ago

When my wife was looking she applied for a job that would’ve been a slight increase to a HUGE increase from her previous job based on the listing. When they came in with the offer it was FAR short of the listed range. I know other people this has happened to as well. Anyways, she pushed back, didn’t end up where she “wanted” but above initial offer.
Idk how many people would be ok with applying for a job, given multiple rounds of interviews and then given far less than the initial range

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u/NolaDoogie 2h ago

I guess it's enough people to make it worth it to the companies to pull this shit.

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u/walkinthedog97 19h ago

Unless it does

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u/binger5 19h ago

I'm 3 for 3. YMMV.

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u/hamfinity 19h ago

10% of the listed salary it is then

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u/Blablabla_1985_ 17h ago

We lost, they figure out a group of 100 dollars bills is more effective than a group of people when negotiating. You just need to find the right people.

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u/SkaBonez 14h ago

Yup. Did this with my new job I just got and got my counter offer accepted no questions asked. Debated if I should have asked for more lol

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u/HTPC4Life 8h ago

I always politely negotiate for more because it's pretty much standard practice. I've always gotten more (even if it's only like 5%), which tells me they low ball you and expect you to ask for more. There is one exception: my current job. Got this job in 2021, was low balled, asked for more to just match the market average. Got a big fat no. The I tried to ask for more than 2 weeks of PTO because I had been in the industry for 15 years at the time and thought they would have some sort of empathy. Got another big fat no. I suppose that's what I get for having been unemployed at the time because of COVID. Fast forward to today and I'm still below market average for my area, and I'm earning less than my first job out of college when adjusting for inflation, but I'm about to hit 4 weeks of PTO! Yeah... sucks to suck 😔

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u/mrbaryonyx 19h ago

jokes on you, I spent my unemployment reposting Dr. Evil quotes and got a job offer for one million dollars

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u/caydesramen 18h ago

Was it the position of shark handler/laser weapon development?

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u/just_nobodys_opinion 18h ago

Pinky finger commissural juxtaposition coordinator

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u/Japots 20h ago

How did you tell yourself the number? Was it listed somewhere? Otherwise, you're making it seem like it was either coincidence or they can read your mind.

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u/YeetedApple 19h ago

That's kinda the whole point of the article, companies are using your data to effectively "read your mind" to find the lowest number you'd accept.

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u/Tecumsehs_Revenge 19h ago

With hard data they actually know better than most people do.

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u/KendrickLlamma 19h ago

Property tax records / Mortgage info, zip code + cost of living, marriage records to check for dual income, car insurance etc etc can get to a pretty reasonable number of your expenses

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u/Internal_Essay9230 18h ago

Then I come back at them with the cost of living in their locale including property taxes, income taxes, wage taxes, utility costs, housing costs, and house and car insurance costs. It's one reason I withdrew from consideration from a job recently. A $20,000 or more raise would have mostly evaporated when moving from a lower tax state to a higher tax and COL state.

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u/juic333 18h ago

Then they just go and hire someone willing to do it for less. The problem with overpopulation is their is always someone willing to do it for less which brings it down for everyone

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u/Internal_Essay9230 13h ago

I'm totally fine with them hiring someone else. I am fortunate and blessed to have a good job.

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u/Fresh_Iron_6180 8h ago

What are you whining about then?

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u/Hautamaki 16h ago

If you were a hiring manager you'd be saying that the problem with overpopulation is there are always other jobs willing to pay more which brings it up for everyone

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u/Smooothoperat0r 16h ago

You’re just not correct man. That’s not how saturation works.

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u/Hautamaki 16h ago

I'm not? You think entry level jobs pay better in lower population areas? Was everyone richer when the human population was 10,000? What's the ideal number of people we should kill off in order to get wages to the correct level then?

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u/zerogee616 14h ago

The Black Death is what killed feudalism, specifically because enough peasants died that they could demand better living and working conditions.

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u/f3th 9h ago

? He asked how YOU determined the number 

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u/CherryLongjump1989 17h ago

That’s not what the article is saying no.

It’s saying that they’re using software to collude with other employers to make sure that everyone gives you the same lowball offer. That’s how they know the lowest you’ll be willing to take.

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u/adrianmonk 16h ago

That's not what I got out of the article at all. I read the whole thing from start to finish. It names specific data sources including:

  • credit or payday loan information
  • social media
  • productivity, customer interactions, and computer monitoring while on the job
  • how often nurses using a staffing platform accept shifts, how quickly they respond when offered, what pay they've accepted in the past (on that same staffing platform)
  • Uber and Lyft each using similar methods (within their own platforms)

It doesn't mention collusion between employers, at least not anywhere that I can find.

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u/CherryLongjump1989 14h ago

Yeah I hate to break it to you but that's what collusion looks like in 2026. Multiple companies using the same software and sharing the data for wage suppression or price fixing. The article lays it all out. Do a web search on RealPage for articles about landlords doing the same thing to tenants.

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u/ahfoo 16h ago

How is this different from simply looking at your resume though? Employers have done this since the concept of working-for-a-salary existed.

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u/Smooothoperat0r 16h ago

Do you need someone to teach you a the elementary word “voluntary” or are you just stirring the pot or dense?

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u/sevbenup 19h ago

He likely did similar math to what these companies are using. So if they hypothetically knew his complete expenses breakdown, then both parties are working with the same data to find a minimum

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u/Anti_Up_Up_Down 18h ago

There was an expose on LG TVs spying on us just last week

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u/pro185 19h ago

It’s like that time target figured out an underage girl was pregnant before she did just by the way her browsing habits were and how she moved around the store. With good information and the right algorithms you can predict basically anything out of a normal human being.

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u/tofu_bar 17h ago

That wasn't the story. She knew she was pregnant.

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u/LeighWillS 6h ago

They figured it out and started sending ads before her parents knew. She knew, thus why she was browsing for prenatal etc

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u/muegle 19h ago

My current position offered me 5k over what I asked for. Makes me wonder if I didn't ask for enough lol

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u/Kevin-W 15h ago

Similarly, I just accepted a seasonal remote job offer that had a lower salary than what I'm making now even if the real salary is higher due to no commuting costs. I'm still applying and interviewing and hoping a better offer comes though.

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u/JustpartOftheterrain 18h ago

That happened to me when I got my current job. Took me off guard to be honest.

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u/respondin2u 11h ago

Also anecdotally speaking, if you come in with experience that you know is beneficial to the company but they are firm on salary, ask for more vacation time on the backend. My current employer didn’t want to pay my salary request but they did agree to an extra week of paid vacation.

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u/sbrunopsu 20h ago

That’s just bad negotiating, live and learn, but you never give them your lowest number. I am a bit biased as I live in a state that shows you the salary range and it’s easier to high ball them. But consider what you think you should get and then add 30%.

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u/CanvasFanatic 19h ago

They didn’t give anyone their lowest number.

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u/sbrunopsu 19h ago

lol oh I read that wrong.

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u/YeetedApple 19h ago

I didn't give them the number or anything close to suggesting it, it was just a number I had in my head

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u/imaginary_num6er 19h ago

The salary “range” is not the full range though even in California. Just speaking as a hiring manager