

Why salaries shouldn't be secret - keithly
http://www.vox.com/2014/5/15/5719916/why-salaries-shouldnt-be-secret

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keithly
_Indeed, secrecy surrounding pay is generally a bad idea for any organization.
Ben Horowitz[1] has the best explanation of why that is: it can’t help but
foment poisonous internal politics. But there are other reasons, too._

I'm pretty sure Ben Horowitz doesn't suggest making employee compensation
public, but promoting / giving raises on a regular cycle.

[1]
[http://www.bhorowitz.com/how_to_minimize_politics_in_your_co...](http://www.bhorowitz.com/how_to_minimize_politics_in_your_company)

I chuckled when I read this statement. Having worked for the government, I can
say with certainty that transparent salaries don't reduce poisonous politics.
If anything, they make it worse. Knowing that certain incompetent co-workers
were making vastly more money that me for more or less the same job motivated
me to leave for the private sector where I at least had a chance of being paid
what I was worth. Of course, such discrepancies can exist there too, but at
least the exact numbers aren't right in my face.

