There’s no way it’s 10-25% off. I was in a management role, and was involved in salary benchmarking in many, many markets, countrywide. For a $70k job, the band may be $7 k wide, so depending on whether you’re on the bottom or top of the band (based on skill set and experience), there will be some difference. That said, our benchmarking data is rich, and while I think newer employees may make on the low side of an industry average, forget those 25% numbers. That’s usually a local issue, where a leader wasn’t diligent about maintaining competitive salaries.
One other thing. It’s a fact that companies that are new to a market will raid a company like Allstate, who has a reputation for quality training, and “overpay” up front. They don’t always maintain that salary, meaning, in 5 years, the employee may be in no better shape.
I’m no longer there, and can’t speak to the cultural issues, but the “half the pay” thing is BS.