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Open Salaries: the Good, the Bad and the Awkward (yahoo.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the increasing-your-income-with-game-theory dept.

gollum123 writes: More employers, from Whole Foods Market, with 91,000 employees, to smaller companies such as SumAll and Squaremouth, are opening up companywide salary information to all employees. They generally don't disclose it to the public—but one company, Buffer, posts all employees' salaries on its website. The idea of open pay is to get pay and performance problems out on the table for discussion, eliminate salary inequities and spark better performance. But open pay also is sparking some awkward conversations between co-workers comparing their paychecks, and puncturing egos among those whose salaries don't sync with their self-image.

5 of 258 comments (clear)

  1. State employees by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Personally, I am in the private sector, but I don't care what others are getting paid. Usually a company will trot out the line: "well you are making more than the average so you didn't get much of a salary bump this year". I tell them I don't care what the average is, that is someone elses problem. And we are all making peanuts compared to the executives, so who cares what the "average" for the company is. Obviously "average" doesn't apply to C level.

    1. Re:State employees by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You would be surprised. Just ask. The worst thing that ever happened to me when I asked for more money was "no". Don't be so scared. I guarentee the execs are negotiating every year their compensation aggressively.

    2. Re:State employees by pnutjam · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Meanwhile, your lifetime earnings go up (SS), you can afford to save more, and HR gives your next employer a higher salary number. I don't see the downside.

      --
      Cheap storage VM.
  2. In Norway, EVERYONES salary is available by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    In Norway, EVERYONES salary is available and guess what, nothing bad happened.

  3. Transitions are allways awkward by erice · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The problem is not that salaries are now open. The problem is that they were secret for so long allowing various forms of corruption to grow and fester. It is always awkward when previously hidden rubbish is exposed to the light. The solution, though, is not to go back to hiding salaries but to keep them open. That way existing inequities get cleaned up and new ones are not allowed to sprout.