All profit is based on exploitation. Surplus value is extracted in absolute and relative terms. Absolute surplus value is increasing the amount of time worked per worker. Relative surplus value is extracted by reducing wages or increasing productivity and intensity.

With that orientation explicitly stated, I work in tech and I find discussing salary extremely difficult. Recruiters and hiring managers ask: "What is your salary expectation?" I have no idea how to respond and because I am desperate for a job, respond with what my friends later tell me is "a low ball". It is a wild wild west, with ignorant HR people looking for buzzwords, unrealistic tech stacks, and a lot of bait and switch.

How to approach salary questions? Should I give them a number first? My neoliberal friends tell me "how much value you think you generate", and I respond "enough so I don't have to work anymore".

  • thethirdgracchi [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    You gotta look for either the salaries for similar jobs at that company, or salaries for companies like that company in the same general geographic area. If you live in, for example, New York City and say you want $85k for a full-stack developer salary they'll hire you on the spot because you're waaaaaay underselling yourself. Geography is key here.