Back story:
I was encouraged to give the story some time to see how things shake out. After a year, I concluded that the media frenzy and other distractions made it hard to conclude anything about the wage policy.
It's closer to five years now since the $70K announcement in April 2015, so I took another look. It appears to me that the $70,000 minimum wage policy has been abandoned.
Glassdoor probably isn't perfectly reliable, but it shows many positions with salary ranges starting below $60,000.
The 70K Updates section of the company blog was very active in 2016, but had only one update in 2017, about the baby boom credited to new financial stability among employees. As of February 2017:
The careers page offers reasons why candidates should work at Gravity Payments, none of which mention salary.
An open position for a Customer Support Representative in Honolulu says "starting salary will be $70k/year" but I found no mention of salary for any of the other job listings I looked at.
The About Us section says that the CEO's "most recent bold action was the implementation of a $70,000 minimum wage" but this language hasn't been updated since April 2016.
The employee benefits have evolved over time:
• $70,000 minimum wage
• Unlimited paid time off
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Bonus opportunities
• Flannel Fridays
• Company-sponsored outings
• Volunteer opportunities
• Catered breakfasts and lunches
• Unlimited paid time off
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Flannel Fridays
• Company-sponsored outings
• Volunteer opportunities
• Catered breakfasts and lunches
• Open paid time off
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Flannel Fridays
• Company-sponsored outings
• Volunteer opportunities
• Catered breakfasts and lunches
Of the eight benefits mentioned in 2016, the $70K minimum and bonuses have disappeared. It still sounds like a great place to work, and the company seems to be doing well, but compensation appears to be more in line with convention.
I have a friend who work(s/ed?) there. I can check in.
It's funny. The $70k thing was a big story everywhere else in America, but was only a small splash here in Seattle where people start around $100-120, at most normal tech companies.
Gravity Payments is not a big company, and works in data processing/services, which scale fairly easily without a commensurate increase in costs.
Let's see Weyerhaeuser or Boeing or a manufacturer do that kind of thing, where the cost of goods/materials doesn't scale so easily.
(Don't get me wrong. I LOVE GRAVITY FOR DOING THIS!! I am a huge proponent of public salary disclosures. It just keeps people honest, and working. The majority of execs I have ever worked with get about 2-3 hours of work done, 3 days a week. The rest of the time is - quite honestly - fucking off, and riding on their previous success in the company. "I did the work to get to this C-suite role, so now I have earned the right to work less.")