Like scores other U.S. workers over the summer, Acacia Fante was blindsided when she was laid off from her marketing job as part of a company restructure in July.
"It revolutionized the way I thought about pay, because that transparency just felt very natural and like something everyone deserves," she says. That came in handy when she kicked off interviews with her now-employer, an HR tech company she was excited about. But there was one big problem: In the first interview, she learned the content writer position would pay $75,000 to $85,000.
Fante aimed high. Her research said a senior product marketing manager working for a tech company makes an average of $130,000 in the U.S. She knew it was a moonshot since she'd already be stretching the company's original $85,000 proposal. Those discussions also clarified Fante's future with the company. "I also need to know, how can you help me grow? How can you help me be successful?" she says. "Sometimes that's with a specific number, and sometimes it's with an opportunity."