The NSA, Booz-Allen-Hamilton, the US Justice Department, various politicians, the media, and developers have been stirred up by the activities of Edward Snowden, who disclosed activities of the NSA. While we've all been watching the fun, there is a small detail that has been overlooked, one that may have significant consequences.
Booz-Allen-Hamilton terminated the employment of Snowden:
Booz Allen can confirm that Edward Snowden, 29, was an employee of our firm for less than 3 months, assigned to a team in Hawaii. Snowden, who had a salary at the rate of $122,000, was terminated June 10, 2013 for violations of the firm’s code of ethics and firm policy. News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm. We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter.
This of course is not surprising.
The termination of his employment is not what interests me. What interests me is what people have been ignoring:
Snowden, who had a salary at the rate of $122,000
That's a high salary for a 29-year-old with no college degree.
I'm sure that a lot of employees of Booz-Allen-Hamilton are thinking about their salary, and perhaps finding it somewhat less that Snowden's.
Now, Snowden was employed in Hawaii, and Hawaii has a high cost of living. Someone in North Carolina could live just as comfortably on a lower salary, and I'm sure that Booz-Allen-Hamilton adjusts their compensation with geographic areas.
Booz-Allen-Hamilton has said nothing about Snowden's specific duties or the skills required for his position, and there may be some obscure talent needed.
But even adjusting for those factors, that salary is going to get people thinking. It's going to get developers thinking. And they will be thinking: "Hey, perhaps I can earn that kind of salary."
Snowden, in an interview with The Guardian, claimed that his compensation was $200,000. Booz-Allen-Hamilton states that his salary was $122,000. The two claims are not necessarily in conflict; Booz-Allen-Hamilton may have paid a bonus on top of the salary. (I have no insight into Booz-Allen-Hamilton's compensation packages, and I am guessing here.)
Bonus or not, by stating his annual salary, Booz-Allen-Hamilton will have started a lot of people thinking. My guess is that developers will start asking for compensation to match Booz-Allen-Hamiltion's statement.
Compensation information for large companies, is, as a rule, held as confidential. By exposing this salary point, Booze-Allen-Hamilton may have created a problem across the entire US IT industry.
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1 comment:
That caught my eye as well. I didn't notice the HI address however. According to http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/ $125K in Honolulu is equivalent to $85K in Chapel Hill, NC. Another significant qualification is that Snowden had Secret Clearance. Getting clearance is a big deal, very expensive for a company and time consuming too, so cleared individuals can command quite a premium in salary.
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