Decimal Point Error Posts Job At $15.00/Hour Instead Of $150K/Year - Chaos Ensues
There's "typo in the job description" and then there's "we accidentally posted a senior software engineer position at minimum wage because someone misplaced a decimal point."
A tech company just experienced the latter. And it went spectacularly, hilariously wrong.
The Mistake
The job posting went live Monday morning: Senior Software Engineer, $15.00/hour.
Not $150,000/year. Not $150K. Fifteen dollars per hour.
For context: The median software engineer salary in the U.S. is $120,000-140,000 annually. Senior engineers at tech companies make $150,000-250,000+.
$15/hour is $31,200 per year. That's what you pay baristas, not engineers.
The Viral Spread
The job posting hit Indeed at 9am EST. By 11am, it was circulating on Twitter and LinkedIn with variations of:
"What kind of disrespect...senior engineer for $15/hour?"
"This is what tech companies actually think we're worth."
"Name and shame—who's posting this garbage?"
The post went viral as an example of employer audacity and wage exploitation. People assumed it was intentional—a company trying to lowball desperate candidates.
The Application Flood
Here's where it gets good: people started applying as a joke.
When a job posting becomes internet-famous, troll applications follow.
Resumes listing "experience working for exposure" and "proficiency in being taken advantage of."
Cover letters explaining "I'm overqualified but willing to work for minimum wage because I enjoy suffering."
LinkedIn profiles that were just memes.
Applications from actual high school students excited about a "senior engineer" role that paid close to what they made at retail jobs.
The Realization
"Why the hell do we have 4,000 applications for a senior engineering role?"
They clicked into the job posting. $15.00/hour.
"Oh no."
They checked LinkedIn. The posting had 847 comments, mostly roasting the company.
They checked Twitter. The company was trending. Not in a good way.
"OH NO."
The Damage Control
The company pulled the posting immediately and issued a statement on LinkedIn:
"We sincerely apologize for a job posting error that listed a senior software engineer position at an incorrect hourly rate. The position offers a competitive annual salary of $150,000, not $15/hour. This was a data entry mistake, not a reflection of how we value our employees or candidates. We've corrected the posting and apologize for any confusion."
"How does a typo like that make it through review? Don't you QA your job postings?"
"This says more about your hiring process than the typo does."
"Respect for owning it quickly, but man, that's embarrassing."
"I applied as a joke and now I'm disappointed it wasn't real. I wanted to see the job description."
The Recruiter Perspective
According to the recruiter who shared the story anonymously, here's what happened internally:
The compensation team provided salary data in an Excel file. The recruiter was supposed to copy the annual salary into the ATS. Somehow the hourly rate column got copied instead.
The ATS didn't flag it because $15/hour is technically a valid wage. The posting went through automated approval because the role template had been used before.
Nobody manually reviewed the live posting.
By the time someone noticed, the damage was done. Viral spread, 4,000+ applications (99% trolls), reputational hit, and a disaster to clean up.
The Lessons (That Nobody Will Learn)
1. Review your job postings before they go live. Manually. With human eyes. Automation is great until it publishes $15/hour senior engineer roles.
2. Implement ATS validation rules. Flag salaries that fall outside reasonable ranges for job levels. A senior role posted under $50K should trigger a warning.
3. Monitor job postings after they go live. Check Indeed, LinkedIn, and your career site regularly. Catch errors before they go viral.
4. Have a crisis response plan. When job postings go viral, you need to respond fast. Pull the posting, issue a statement, correct the error publicly.
5. Train your team on data entry accuracy. This wasn't malicious—it was a simple mistake that snowballed. But simple mistakes can cause massive problems when they involve public-facing job postings.
The Internet's Reaction
"I'm a senior engineer and I'd consider $15/hour if they throw in free coffee and unlimited PTO (unpaid)."
"This is actually perfect for senior engineers who just want a chill retirement job. No stress, low responsibility, minimum wage."
"I applied and listed my salary requirement as $15.01/hour. Gotta negotiate."
"Plot twist: It's a senior role but you're only expected to work 15 minutes per week."
"The company: 'We can't find qualified candidates!' Also the company: '$15/hour for senior engineers.'"
The Wider Problem
This isn't the first time a salary typo has gone viral:
A financial services firm once posted an analyst role at $12K/year instead of $120K.
A hospital listed a physician position at $40/hour instead of $400K/year.
A law firm posted a partner-track role at $35K instead of $350K.
And yet it keeps happening.
The Aftermath
The company eventually posted the corrected job listing at $150K/year. They received 47 legitimate applications—less than 1% of the viral posting's total.
The company became a brief meme in tech recruiting circles but will probably be forgotten in a week when the next recruiting disaster goes viral.
Lessons learned? Maybe.
Will this happen again somewhere else? Absolutely.
Sources:
AI-Generated Content
This article was generated using AI and should be considered entertainment and educational content only. While we strive for accuracy, always verify important information with official sources. Don't take it too seriously—we're here for the vibes and the laughs.