Latina Pay Equity: How Workplace Bias Affects Your Pay in 2025
As a Latina salary negotiation strategist working directly with Latinas in tech, I see every day how systemic inequities impact our careers, salaries, and well-being. Pay equity has always been an uphill battle for Latinas, but in 2025, that battle has gotten even harder.
With sweeping rollbacks to workplace protections under Trxmp's administration and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives being dismantled, Latinas, especially Afro-Latinas, Indigenous Latinas, LGBTQIA+ Latinas, disabled Latinas, and immigrant Latinas, are facing intensified bias and discrimination in the workplace.
But despite these challenges, we are not powerless. Our collective resilience, strategy, and solidarity can break barriers and reclaim what we are owed.
Here’s how to fight workplace bias and take control of your worth in 2025:
The New Barriers Latinas Face in the Workplace
1. Elimination of DEI Programs
On January 20, 2025, Trxmp signed an executive order abolishing DEI initiatives in all federal agencies. What the administration frames as a move against "division" is, in fact, a direct attack on the vital support systems that have helped Latinas and other marginalized groups navigate hostile work environments.
Without DEI programs gone, expect:
Fewer pay equity audits (which were already rare)
Less accountability for hiring bias
Even wider pay gaps, especially for Latinas
Translation? The Latina pay gap—already at 51 cents to every white man’s dollar, will get worse.
Latinas have historically faced the largest pay gaps and now lack critical institutional support to address them.
2. Mass Firings & The Loss of Workplace Protections
Thousands of employees, including those working in education, small business support, and civil rights enforcement, have been fired. These cuts mean fewer resources for Latina entrepreneurs, less oversight of workplace discrimination, and weaker enforcement of pay equity laws.
Latinas at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities are at greater risk of being overlooked and underpaid without accountability structures in place.
3. Attacks on Gender Rights & Workplace Inclusivity
The administration’s move to limit gender identity recognition to "male" and "female" has marginalized LGBTQIA+ Latinas and erased trans and nonbinary identities from workplace protections. Afro-Latinas and Indigenous Latinas, already facing higher rates of racialized discrimination, now confront greater vulnerability in environments stripped of inclusion policies. Without systemic checks on racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia, discrimination will thrive unchecked.
Ready to fight back against workplace bias and negotiate for what you deserve? Let’s build your strategy in a free coaching call.
Latinas in Tech: Four Power Moves to Fight Workplace Bias and Secure Your Worth in 2025
1. Know and Advocate for Your Worth
Cultural norms of humility and gratitude often discourage Latinas from negotiating their true value, but in this environment, self-advocacy is non-negotiable.
Use salary transparency laws in states like California, New York, and others to research fair wages.
Frame negotiations as mutually beneficial: demonstrate how your value drives outcomes for the company.
Negotiate beyond base salary. Think about benefits, bonuses, remote work, and professional development opportunities.
Recognize intersectional barriers. Afro-Latinas, Indigenous Latinas, and LGBTQIA+ Latinas may face compounded bias when negotiating. Find mentors and advocates who understand these challenges and can help you strategize.
2. Stay Legally Informed and Ready
While federal protections are eroding, many state-level laws still protect workers, and some states are introducing stronger pay transparency and anti-discrimination measures.
Stay updated on local labor laws and document any instances of discrimination or wage suppression.
Seek legal aid and advocacy groups when facing workplace injustice. Organizations focused on racial, gender, and immigrant rights can offer critical support.
Watch for biased AI hiring practices. Many algorithms are built on data sets that reproduce systemic bias, disproportionately affecting Afro-Latinas and other marginalized groups. Shout out to Christian Ortiz’s JusticeAI.
3. Build and Strengthen Collective Networks
No one should navigate this system alone. Community is critical.
Join or create Latina-centered professional groups for mentorship, job leads, and collective action.
Leverage LinkedIn, industry-specific communities, and affinity spaces to amplify your voice and opportunities.
Support worker solidarity movements demanding corporate accountability on pay equity and anti-discrimination.
Advocate for intersectional inclusion within these groups—Afro-Latinas, Indigenous Latinas, LGBTQIA+ Latinas, and disabled Latinas must be included in leadership and decision-making, not just in name.
4. Push for Systemic Change
Change doesn’t happen in silence. Latinas must use every available tool to advocate for workplace equity and broader social justice.
Support and vote for local and state candidates who prioritize pay equity, workers' rights, and DEI restoration.
Pressure companies to conduct pay equity audits and publish transparent reports on wages and diversity.
Use social media and public platforms to call out workplace discrimination and inequities.
Center intersectional narratives amplifying the voices of those facing the greatest barriers: Afro-Latinas, Indigenous Latinas, queer Latinas, and disabled Latinas.
FAQs: Workplace Bias & Salary Negotiation
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Workplace bias keeps Latinas underpaid by normalizing lower salaries, limiting promotions, and justifying pay inequities.
Without pay transparency or DEI programs, companies can underpay Latinas without consequence.
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Research salaries on Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn.
Ask colleagues (especially men) about their compensation.
Push for a pay audit or talk to HR about salary bands.
And most importantly—negotiate.
Fighting Workplace Bias Is Non-Negotiable
What’s happening now is not just about individual negotiations, it’s about collective survival and equity. The rollback of protections is a calculated attack on Black, Brown, Indigenous, and immigrant communities. It is rooted in patriarchal, white supremacist, and capitalist systems designed to devalue our labor and silence our voices.
But Latinas have never been strangers to struggle or to triumph. By learning to advocate for our worth, staying informed, building collective power, and demanding systemic change, we can fight back against these attacks. Our worth is not negotiable. Our dignity is not optional.
If you are a Latina in tech wondering how to navigate this landscape, you do not have to do this alone. As a strategist and coach, I offer tailored support to help you claim every dollar, every opportunity, and every ounce of respect you deserve.
If you’re ready to negotiate your worth and push back against systemic inequities, let’s work together. Contact me to book a strategy session. And if this resonated with you, share it with another Latina who needs to hear this message.
Together, we rise.