Woman’s tweet goes viral after she resigns and shares her salary

Journalist Victoria Walker’s post inspired dozens of others to share their own earnings

Dozens of others have shared their own salaries (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A journalist’s post has gone viral on social media after she revealed her salary and encouraged those applying for her old job to ask for more money.

Victoria Walker, a senior reporter at New York City-based publication, The Points Guy, took to Twitter last week to share that she was leaving her position.

In a controversial move, she also shared the salary she had been paid by the travel website and encouraged those applying for the role to ask for $8,000 (£5,900) more than she received.

“Oh! Before I forget -- if you apply for my old job as Senior Travel Reporter, you should ask for no less than $115,000 (£85,000), a signing bonus [and] a relocation bonus if you’re moving to [New York City].

“In full transparency, I was at $107,000 (£79,000). I believe being transparent is one way to achieve equity in media,” she said.

The tweet received an overwhelming response and has since been liked almost 80,000 times and inspired people to share their own earnings using the hashtag “#shareyoursalary”.

“I believe this is the first step for equity everywhere! Salary transparency is a must and it’s a sure way of levelling the playing field for everyone!” one Twitter user commented.

Another wrote: “I love this. I never understand why salary is something we all whisper about. More transparency will help everyone! Good on you for sharing.”

“I have always told my coworkers my salary if they asked…because they are asking for a reason…I have not always had the same response, but I always share it. It’s good to see the #shareyoursalary on my timeline. A united front with your coworkers is your best chance for equal pay,” a third person said.

Walker later posted an update writing that she had debated over whether to share her salary publicly, but wanted to be as transparent as possible.

“I debated whether I wanted to be so transparent but as journalists, we cannot demand transparency from powerful entities without being willing to do the same ourselves. So, #shareyoursalary.”

A 2020 survey of almost 3,000 workers in the UK, commissioned by the Trades Union Congress, found that almost a fifth (18 per cent) have been told they are banned from discussing their pay with fellow staff members.

It also found that 50 per cent of employees do not know details about the pay of senior managers in their workplaces, and that 53 per cent are not given information about other employees’ pay within their organisations.

Of those surveyed, one in five (18 per cent) said their workplace had a transparent pay policy.