Admin Assistant Finds Out Target Employees Earn More Than Her $23/Hour Salary And Makes The Decision To Leave Her Law Firm

As much as we would like for people to have equal income and be equally financially stable, the world doesn’t work that way. Some professions require an education, while others don’t, some professions are more dangerous than others and some of them come with a bigger responsibility than the rest, so the ones that require more are compensated more generously.

But even that’s not always the case. Reddit user glasswitch88 who works as an administrative assistant at a law firm shared her interaction with her boss when she said to her that Target employees earn more than her.

More info: Reddit

Besides being an administrative assistant in a law firm, the Original Poster (OP) is also a single mom to a cat and she has to make her furry child’s life better. She heard that Target raised their starting wage to $24.

On Target’s official website they said, “The new approach will apply to hourly team members working in Target stores, supply chain facilities and headquarters locations, positioning Target as a wage leader in every market where it operates.” The minimum wage will still be $15, but some positions will have a higher starting salary.

The problem is that the OP earns about $23 an hour in a law firm in New York, which is less than a Target employee would. She mentioned it to her boss and the boss’ reaction was that it doesn’t matter because if they had to choose between working at a Target and working at a law firm, they would prefer an office job.

In one of the comments, glasswitch88 explained that the company surely can afford to pay her a better salary. “This firm makes millions. I have no savings and haven’t even touched my student debt. But nooooo I should be proud to work here… oh and our profits went up last year. And I got a whopping 2% raise.”

But the admin assistant didn’t think this was a good outlook because she was required to have a degree, but that didn't reflect in her wage. It’s not that the Target employees don’t deserve a proper salary, it’s that the law firm should pay more and notice the changes in the market like Target does.

Bored Panda reached out to glasswitch88 and she said, "To be clear, I do want Target to make $24 an hour. I know it's mostly a PR piece and only for certain NYC locations (and the veracity of that is not even clear). However, I wanted to just use the article as a way of showing my boss that times are changing and it might be time to up the base salary of support staff. If we want to attract the right employees and we require sterling resumes (people with amazing GPAs from Ivy League schools), we can't be paying them the same wages as Target."

It is fair that the 6th most expensive city in the world to live in would apply the new salary range in their Target stores. The OP herself opens up about her finances in one of the comments: “I live in a two bedroom apartment that’s $2200 so I pay $1100 a month, plus $100 a week in groceries (yay NYC prices) and then $200 a month in electric/gas/internet. I make about $2400 a month. So yeah. Saving is not happening.”

Another thing that the OP revealed was that she makes the same amount as the manager, but that didn’t console her as then she found out that most admins make $20k more than her.

She revealed to us that the job itself isn't that stressful and her responsabilities include "a lot of non-billable behind-the-scenes work. She answers the phones, fields guests, and does a lot of paperwork for high-powered clients." However, the workplace has a few problems that need to be solved, "everyone is underpaid, especially by NYC standards. When we are talking about normal rent being $2,000 for a two-bedroom, a $40,000 salary is about half a month's paycheck. But I do know a lot of folks are in the same boat. A lot of us also only got a 3% raise which doesn't account for inflation being around 7%."

The admin assistant also remembers how she had to take on some extra work, but she wasn't compensated for it, "When Covid hit I was asked to take on a lot of extra responsibilites. Basically before I was just admin, now I'm admin and HR. There was no additional pay, in fact we all got our salaries cut. We have since been reimbursed and are back to normal but I didn't get any kind of bonus or pay increase. I'm still doing the job of two people with no end in sight."

There is a brighter side to the story, because the OP just accepted a a position at an asset management company as an admin assistant for nearly double her current salary, which just proves that it is possible to find a better job if you dislike the one you're currently at.

The point of the post was to talk about the unfair wages supporting staff gets because they are important pieces in the whole company picture and because they are humans, they deserve to be paid so they can live a dignified life.

Also, the problem is not Target raising their wages, but law firms being compared to a department store’s wages. A competitive salary means competitive in the same field of work and not in general. The OP mentioned that she will bring this up again before her last day at work.

What do you think about administrative assistants earning less than a Target employee? Do you think that the conversation about minimum wage being too low should be louder? Share your opinions with us in the comments!