Should Salaries be Secret?
This interesting post raises this very question and even makes the case that no, they should not be. Keeping salaries under wraps is the default protocol here in the U.S. of A., and I now wonder if it does more harm than good. Here’s one of the key points that made me think:
And here’s the problem: If Johnson’s salary is (unfairly) higher than mine, and secret, I can’t complain to my manager about it because I can’t admit that I know about it. When a company sets up a situation where people can see the unfairness but can’t address it directly, or even discuss it openly, they’re rigging the system for maximum frustration.
The author cites another potential problem, one I have experienced first hand:
I have worked at two different companies where salaries were secret and guess what: They weren’t. Most people knew what most others were getting. In one company I consulted for, the IT department had even found the Excel spreadsheets HR kept the salaries in. They knew what everyone was getting.
This blurb speaks to the larger issue of information asymmetry, the term given to a situation in which those who possess information can choose to use it against those who do not. Leaked information becomes contraband and fosters even more frustration. And as Young MC says, “From frustration first inclination / Is to become a monk and leave the situation”. But every dark tunnel has a lighter hope, so maybe transparency is the way forward.
What do you think? Would you prefer working in an open environment like this?
I would certainly give it a go. The problem is even worse when you are contracting in my experience. I’m working with 3 other solid software developers right now and the daily rate varies from 320 to 500 pound per day. Not an usual scenario. And god forbid that the permies get wind of what management has decided to pay contractors, even though they decide not to give out pay rises this year – then people get VERY frustrated.
I think if all pay was a lot more public the disparity would be far less and those that are on more would really have to justify their pay. It’s a lot harder to fool everyone you are good at your job than just the boss. Typically though, the people who decide these policies in my experience often didn’t get to their position purely on merit either why change the system that works for them?
Perhaps ignorance is bliss.
At Motorola, the pay grades are posted on the wall, but there is a range of about $20K between lower and upper range of the grade. So you at least have an idea how much the guy next to you, or your manager is making.
Hey Breddy,
remember that time R—- found everyone’s salary listed on a couple pages by the printer?
Those sure were some fun times.
Oh, and http://www.revenews.com/brookschaaf/2006/08/yes_comerixa_has_faltered.html