

Knowing your colleagues' salaries  - KeepTalking
http://www.slate.com/id/2268886/

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ax0n
Meh. I took a 15% paycut when I got my new job after being laid off. I'm
pretty sure my new peers who've been at my new job longer are making close to
what I used to pull in.

And I don't care. My new co-workers are awesome, my commute is 1/3 the
distance, and I feel like I'm making a real difference rather than being a
tiny cog whose only purpose was to make the red part of a pie graph get very
small.

~~~
staunch
Now fast forward 2 years. By now all your co-workers agree that you're far
more effective than most, and way ahead of Bob. Now you find out Bob is making
75% more than you in the same role. It's going to boil your cabbage, I promise
you.

~~~
ax0n
I had a similar situation at my last job, but my heart wasn't totally in it
(if you can't tell) - This small company acts and feels a lot like a start-up,
even though it's been around for 13 years and was just purchased by a F500
company in NYC.

Not only is my role pretty niche, but as long as I can provide for my family
and I keep loving what I do, I really couldn't care if someone else on my team
is making six figures. That said, I know even my boss isn't making 75% more
than me, and my VP likely isn't, either.

I guess you really have to love your job to fully grasp it.

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greyman
I personally don't know how it feels when you know your colleagues salaries.
In all the companies I worked it was forbidden to reveal one's salary. But I
can't think of any rational reason why I would want to know it.

~~~
loewenskind
>But I can't think of any rational reason why I would want to know it.

Are you serious? How about finding out where your market value actually lies
for example? If you find out everyone on your team makes 20% more than you
then you know (a) to quit and (b) what to ask for at your next position.

Why do you think it's forbidden to reveal salaries? Because companies don't
want to pay full market price if they can avoid it. The only way to do that is
to hide what the actual value is.

~~~
loewenskind
Anyone care to explain the downvote(s) here? Workers are a market just as much
an any other value proposition. The difference between widgets and employees
is that companies do everything they can to hide market signals about
employees.

