A female machinist who quit her job after discovering the "newbie" male colleague she was training was being paid more than her has won the support of a wave of Reddit users.

According to a Reddit post shared by the machinist (under username Equallyraisin), she was allegedly being "paid less to train the newbie" to do the job she's been doing, "straight out of the gate."

She approached her supervisor, who said he "would look into it," but after not hearing back for three days, the machinist said she "called out completely" and would be giving her two weeks' notice to quit, as she secured another job that paid her $5 more an hour.

She said: "Had my supervisor made it right instead of stonewalling me, I'd have been satisfied with him matching [the] newbie's pay, only 75 cents more in comparison.

"The guy I trained doesn't know an Allen wrench from a pipe wrench, will not operate a forklift or a crane, which are both essential parts of the job. They're going to be screwed. This feels like poetic justice to me," the machinist added.

According to a 2019 report from the Conference Board's Labor Market Institute, as of the second quarter of 2019, the salary gap between the wages of those aged 20 to 24 and 25 to 34 (who have been working longer than those aged 20 to 24) "recently declined to its smallest size in 36 years," Fortune reported in December 2019.

According to the 2019 American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau, the median annual earnings for female machinists was $41,163, which amounts to around 81.1 percent of the $50,776 made by male machinists.

The earnings of female machinists were reported to be 81 percent of the earnings for men across all occupations, according to the 2019 survey.

The female machinist from the latest Reddit post told Newsweek that she "absolutely" thinks her colleague being a man played a role in him being paid more. She said: "I know for a fact [that] it isn't because of my work ethic or quality of work."

The machinist said she hasn't "heard a thing" from her supervisor regarding her payment query, "which sucks but it is what it is."

She has told her colleague to "get out while he can and find a better shop to work for."

Several praised the machinist, saying "good on you" and that they "salute" her for finding a better-paying gig elsewhere.

User Satirical0ne said: "As someone who's also worked in a handful of machining shops, good on you. Many places these days will try to screw you if you let them and then try to dangle the job in front of your face.

"Places like your soon to be ex-employer don't deserve skilled machinists because obviously they don't appreciate them," the user said in a comment that had got 3,800 upvotes at the time of reporting.

User dsdvbguutres said: "Keep telling them what a great hire they made and talk up the new guy as much as you can. Watch them hurt their wrists patting themselves on their own backs," in a comment that got 1,900 comments.

The female machinist replied: "Oh hell yeah. This isn't stirring the pot, this is adding some salt," in a comment that got 1,200 upvotes.

She said: "They're going to lose an insane amount of money when I leave. I have kept us ahead of schedule since I've been there...," in a comment that got 721 upvotes.

Conscious_History812: "As a female cnc [computer numerically controlled] machinist I feel you. It's been a hard uphill climb to be recognized. I salute you," to which the original poster replied: "It has for me too. So when this happened, it was like I never really got far in their minds, which stung a little. The salute is mutual."

User CourtesyFarts, who said they are also a machinist, said: "You always gotta do what you can to take care of yourself physically, financially, and psychologically. Good on you for not putting up with bulls**t," in a comment that got 136 upvotes.

Several shared their own stories of getting paid more by moving to another job and condemned employers for offering higher pay to new hires instead of existing staff.

User GhostalMedia said: "This is a major problem. Employers know they have to pay more to attract new talent these days, but many are not increasing pay to retain the talent they have..."

ThatFatBumbleBee agreed, stating: "When I was a welder (non union) got paid 15$ dph [dollars per hour] less than the new guys coming in through the staffing agency with zero experience. That s**t made me quit the Industry."

User ryan97531 said: "It is very common right now that the new people are making more or as much," adding that: "It would likely be profitable for most people to job hop at least once during this wage war that's going on."

The user shared: "I got poached by the competition about a year ago and got a 10k raise out of it, better benefits and actually less responsibility," the user said in a comment that got 749 upvotes.

User vidyagameplaya said: "This is good advice. I just started my new job this week with a 20k bump. I didn't even want a new job, but thought it couldn't hurt to see what I was worth!" in a comment that got 182 upvotes.

Update 7/4/22, 2:47 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the female machinist (under username Equallyraisin on Reddit).

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