First of all, I'm not a game tester - but I did spend a little time getting ripped in the past working for a small company that operated as a contract company for companies that were really cheap - too cheap to pay the measly sums that game testers already get.
I do look at the positions every once in a while - hoping they will get better, but it's been about 20 years since I did it and it's still the same. Game Testers are the security guards of the industry. Just like security guards, they do the most critical work in the company, yet do not recieve proper respect or pay. And now they are asked to be even more technical - it's not simply play through the game and report anomalies anymore - they are almost like Jr. Programmers; having to find and report hacker level bugs. They are required to work 24/7 if necessary - and cheap skate game companies won't pay them much more than minimum wage. Its shameful and a travesty. I'll bet you that the people in the HR department are getting paid well - and do they develop games? NO.
The kernel - the skeleton crew, if you will, of any company are the people who should be getting premium pay. The kernel of a game development company is the Game Producer, Designer, Artists, Programmer, and TESTER. If you have those components - you can make a game. So why is it that the Tester is getting left out of the loop? It is what happens when you let HR run your company. All of a sudden certain people aren't worth as much as others. HR goes by a pre-made formula, stamped in their heads at the collegiate level. They cannot adjust based on the individual needs of the company. Companies make the mistake of allowing those people to run them, when they should only provide a service. If they were capable of running a business - why are they working for you?
The first thing an HR department will do is set up your company to value their friends - college graduates - more than anyone else regardless of expertise. They will weed out people like the companies founders - who might have great skills, but do not fit their profile. You have given your company over to them and now all you get is whatever every other company gets. your company is going to be built without any individuality at all. Because Testers aren't normally degreed, the HR will and has ruled that they are not worth premium slaray - well no salary at all actually. They get paid hourly, which is dumb because Testers work around the clock anyway.
Because there is no game tester degree program, HR feels justified in paying these hard workers the minimum they can skate by with. And you - as the lazy company owner - has let them go ahead and perform this abomination. Why get your hands dirty and do the right thing? HR knows what they are doing, right? And it's more money to pay the programmers, designers, artists, etcetera - right? Who cares about the game tester - all they do is make sure a quality, polished product arrives on the shelf - and save your compaby from lawsuits, returns and abandoned customers? They only save you millions of dollars - so why are they worth paying properly.
Oh yeah - because HR says so.
Who is running the company - you or Human Resources???