'Leaving was the best thing I did': Employer of 3 years hires new employee at $30k higher than experienced worker, they quit

It's no secret that a lot of employers in as many industries allocate more budget to hiring than they do to staff retention. This is a bit silly when you consider that large organizations will go on to spend tens of thousands of dollars on recruiting, onboarding, and training processes—in addition to value lost due to lost time and productivity of vacant roles. Though some of this cost is silent or not immediately apparent on the books and, in contrast, the idea of approving even half that money in the upfront cost of giving a raise is daunting. While this is an organizational flaw that often occurs, there are, of course, more intentional reasons why employers choose not to give their workers even deserved raises.

Whatever the reason or cause, unfortunately, this ends up with a turnover of the most experienced staff who are frustrated at their own lack of advancement and pay that is falling behind the market rate, discovering that new hires are being paid more than them despite their experience and contribution.

That's what this worker in a "niche" field discovered had happened when they learned that their employer of 3 years had hired a new hire at $30k more than they were currently earning. Frustrated, they found a new job as fast as possible.