{
  "id": 12116999,
  "title": "I increased my salary from $22K to $180K salary before a layoff. Taking a pay cut in my next role felt like a step backward.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/i-increased-my-salary-from-22k-to-180k-salary-before-a-layoff-taking",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-05T09:15:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/salary-journey-to-180k-wine-studies-career-change-laid-off-2026-10"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Elianor Williamson, a 36-year-old resident of Seattle, experienced a remarkable career trajectory marked by significant salary increases. She graduated from Central Washington University in 2013 with a degree in global wine studies. Initially working as an event coordinator for a nonprofit, her salary was $22,000. Afterward, she secured a marketing manager position at a marketing agency, earning $45,000. Williamson then transitioned to a program manager role at the same agency, increasing her salary to $61,000. She briefly took a contract position at Zillow, which paid $83,200 annually. Williamson later became a project manager at Zillow, where she received a salary increase to $90,000. A reorganization at Zillow led to a further salary bump to $101,000 when she became a campaign manager. In 2022, she moved to a senior project manager role at Zillow, earning $135,000. Williamson then joined a real estate tech startup called OJO, where she was hired as a senior program manager with a salary of $150,000 and a $10,000 signing bonus. After OJO's acquisition by the Royal Bank of Canada and rebranding as Houseful, she took a lateral move to become a senior program and operations manager at the company. Her compensation increased to $180,000. In March 2025, Williamson was affected by layoffs at Houseful and became unemployed for five months, collecting unemployment benefits. She began a TikTok account to document her job search and interview struggles. In August 2025, Williamson accepted a position as a global brand operations manager at Starbucks, starting at a salary of $131,500.",
  "summary": "A 36-year-old in Seattle shares her salary journey from $22,000 to $180,000, before a layoff made her feel like she took a huge step backward.",
  "key_points": [
    "Williamson's salary increased from $22K to $180K before layoff.",
    "She documented job search struggles on TikTok during unemployment.",
    "Accepted global brand operations manager role at Starbucks in August 2025."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}