Pedro Aguilar, twenty-nine, and John Anderson, thirty, graduated in 2017 from Caltech (California Institute of Technology), both obtaining a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. Pedro, a native of Argentina, joined Central Electrica SA, the local subsidiary of Centerlec, a Texan-based multinational specializing in construction, operation and maintenance of electrical power plants. Since his recruitment Pedro had climbed the ladder of management positions and was appointed chief engineer in the Transformer Division in Cordoba in October 2020 with a monthly salary of 240,000 Argentine peso (ARS) ($2,620) plus a possible bonus of around 20 per cent at the end of the year.

He was very happy with his promotion.

In December 2021 he met John at the company’s headquarters. John told him that he had just been appointed chief engineer in Buenos Aires with basically similar responsibilities to Pedro’s. They celebrated their encounter in a local pub and during their conversation, Pedro found out that John’s salary was a tax-free $90,000 per year ($7,500 per month) plus a potential bonus plus a contribution to his accommodation of around 100,000 ARS ($1,092)

per month.

Questions:

1 If you were Pedro, what would you think? What would you do?

2 What are the arguments that Pedro will hear if he complains to the HR director?

3 Can this type of situation be resolved?