1/3 of older millenials share their salary info with their co-workers

[meghanb133]

I'm 31 I've been at the same job for 7 1/2 years. It is completely off limits to talk about salaries at my workplace yet some do. I feel like nothing good can come out of it and I would never tell a coworker what I make. We have hired a lot employees fresh out of college and they expect to be making top dollar on day 1 and all complain to each other about it. At my workplace they pay based on experience and only give annual raises. I'm sure to hear this complaining forever it seems.

 

[ronandannette]

This type of thing protects the so-so worker from falling behind while limiting the employer's options to reward the stars in their organization. Keeping everyone equally mediocre in salary often produces equally mediocre results.

I couldn't agree more. At my workplace the division managers have total discretion how they allocate their annual budget for staffing. There is quite a bit of a range in wages between the employees in my department - even amongst those with the same titles and duties. The reason is because there is a range in their relative value to the company, given their individual performance. Wage-increases are used as incentives and for employee retention but the commensurate performance has to be there.

I don't know if my staff discusses their wages amongst themselves; it would peeve me a little but there's no rule against it. If one of them came to me asking for more money just because they heard X was making more, well, that'd be 5 minutes of their lives they'd never get back.

 

[GreatLakes]

I would never share with co-workers or even my friends what I make. I find it tacky. At work there are published pay bands based on job titles but no specifics on who fall where in the range. Due to my position I do know what everyone makes but outside of my level and HR no one needs to know what other positions make.

I pay my staff based on what they are worth to me and there are wide ranges in even the same job title. In my systems team the guy who has been here longest makes the least because he is my worst performer. I don't care how long you've been here, I care about the value you bring me specifically and the company in general.

I couldn't agree more. At my workplace the division managers have total discretion how they allocate their annual budget for staffing. There is quite a bit of a range in wages between the employees in my department - even amongst those with the same titles and duties. The reason is because there is a range in their relative value to the company, given their individual performance. Wage-increases are used as incentives and for employee retention but the commensurate performance has to be there.

I don't know if my staff discusses their wages amongst themselves; it would peeve me a little but there's no rule against it. If one of them came to me asking for more money just because they knew X was making more, well, that'd be 5 minutes of their lives they'd never get back.

I agree with all of this. This is why I never understood the draw of collective bargaining. I know I am a high performer, there is no way I will ever tie myself to peers and co-workers that are just going to hold me down at their level or align my salary with something as asinine as tenure. If I earn it I want to be promoted past my longer tenured co-workers. Only a truly lazy person with no ambition would want to base their compensation and career progression on anything other than individual performance in my opinion.

Currently all but 2 of my direct reports are older than me. In certain organizations that would never happen...and I would never work in those organizations.

 

[tvguy]

I'm not a Millennial, and the only information about my salary I have discussed is what I made 30 years ago or more. But I actually saw one job search article that RECOMMENDED that workers share salary information.
However, if you are in a union shop like my wife is, the pay scales are printed in the contract, and in her case since she was hired years before the current pay scales went into effect, her salary is published in the union contract by name. She and about 10 others are that way who were hired before 1982.

 

[sam_gordon]

Considering many people these days have no problem sharing information that I wouldn't (primarily health related), this doesn't surprise me.

 

[Skellingtonj]

Not a millennial but I think this concept is outdated. We don’t necessiarily openly discuss salary, but we can. I have close friends at work who I can tell anything too. I don’t think this is a millennial thing

 

[blana]

I work in state government. Somewhere about ten years ago, one of the largest papers in the state started keeping an up-to-date listing of all state employees salaries online. So, everyone knows, or can know, what everyone else makes. The worst offenders for bringing it up are actually the tail end boomers & oldest Gen X. Although the millennial are more likely to discuss their own salaries rather than everyone else's.

 

[melanielll]

The company that my husband works for has salary curves for each pay grade. You know someone's grade by their title. So - you have a decent idea of what they make if you look at their title and how long they have held that title. People don't discuss salaries, but everyone knows about where everyone else is.

 

[MillauFr]

I see it as a bad bad idea.

You got 5% and someone else got 10%? Very few people are going to figure that they just need to work harder for a bigger raise.

Most are going to want a detailed list of why they didn't get 10%. And then they are going to question every thing on the list. Bosses don't want to have to put up with it. And I don't blame them.

I've worked at numerous companies where it was against policy to discuss such matters and it could be a reason for termination.

If someone got 5% and someone else got 10%. I think the 5% needs to work on their brown nosing skills.

 

[MillauFr]

Like I said, there are no advantages for the employer. Well maybe if it inspires competition between employees to up their game in some cases.

I always felt the problem was that it encourages brown nosing. It is very difficult in my profession to develop accurate criteria to rank employees. At least 50% of it is brown nosing and luck. Management thinks I am doing a good job because my projects are almost always under budget and ahead of schedule. What they fail to realize or don't care to look into the details.... Is that I am one of the best sand baggers in the office. My schedules and budgets are incredibly bloated making it easy for me to hit my targets.

 

[Colleen27]

This type of thing protects the so-so worker from falling behind while limiting the employer's options to reward the stars in their organization. Keeping everyone equally mediocre in salary often produces equally mediocre results.

I can see both sides of this one... Employers naturally want the flexibility to reward better producing employees, but at the same time, secrecy around salaries is also cover for wage discrepancies that have nothing to do with performance. I'm not sure what the answer is. If salaries are confidential, there is no way to establish a pattern of pay discrepancies. If they're public, paying for performance is trickier. Neither is entirely ideal, but it seems to me the former is an important enough issue that employers should figure out ways to manage transparency.

When I first started in IT, my graduating class was polled on our starting salaries. The lowest paid man in the class was making more than the best paid woman, and I hired in with two male classmates at the same firm, with the same job title, both of whom made more than I did. So I'll admit my perspective on this is biased by personal experience. That was one of the reasons I ended up in the public sector, in a union position - because there, my gender didn't determine my pay scale.

 

[tvguy]

I work in state government. Somewhere about ten years ago, one of the largest papers in the state started keeping an up-to-date listing of all state employees salaries online. So, everyone knows, or can know, what everyone else makes. The worst offenders for bringing it up are actually the tail end boomers & oldest Gen X. Although the millennial are more likely to discuss their own salaries rather than everyone else's.

California state worker salaries have always been public information , the internet just made access easier, and the major papers do link to those databases. Pay is broken down by base salary, overtime and benefits. The papers browse them because there are some pretty interesting cases of crazy overtime. They filed a public records request and discovered one woman was paid 40 hours straight time, and 128 hours over time in one week. Yup, according to that she worked 7 days straight, 24 hours each day. Wonder woman for sure.

 

[Disney Doll]

Like I said, there are no advantages for the employer. Well maybe if it inspires competition between employees to up their game in some cases.

But with the current generation, upping their game doesn’t play into th equation. Remember, we’re talking about the generation who was never disappointed as children, everyone made the team, everyone got an award.

My experience with the age group in question is that “it’s not fair. Everything should be fair. I shouldn’t have to up my game. It should just be fair”

 

[Skellingtonj]

But with the current generation, upping their game doesn’t play into th equation. Remember, we’re talking about the generation who was never disappointed as children, everyone made the team, everyone got an award.

My experience with the age group in question is that “it’s not fair. Everything should be fair. I shouldn’t have to up my game. It should just be fair”

Agreed. It seems like the younger people want to know who makes what so they can make the same

 

[Happyinwonerland]

But with the current generation, upping their game doesn’t play into th equation. Remember, we’re talking about the generation who was never disappointed as children, everyone made the team, everyone got an award.

My experience with the age group in question is that “it’s not fair. Everything should be fair. I shouldn’t have to up my game. It should just be fair”

Oh my, what a rude and disrespectful over-generalization.

This is a generation of equal pay for equal work. A generation where women still earn 79 cents for every dollar a man earns. Where women with children earn 3 percent less than women without children, while men with children tend to earn 15 percent more than men without children. A generation that is disgusted to know that african american doctors earn 15 percent less than caucasian doctors.

So yeah, let's talk about pay. Let's let women and minorities know if their employer is penalizing them based on gender or race. Let's let them know we don't have to tolerate inequality.

This isn't about "give me more for less effort", it is about "give me equal for equal effort".


I don't understand why people are so sensitive about their salaries? It's just money. Having a high salary doesn't make you a good person , or a healthy person, or a happy person, Just like having a low salary doesn't mean you are less worthy, less honorable, or less generous.

 

[dish rag]

Agreed. It seems like the younger people want to know who makes what so they can make the same

Gotta be fair you know.

 

[ronandannette]

Oh my, what a rude and disrespectful over-generalization.
This is a generation of equal pay for equal work. A generation where women still earn 79 cents for every dollar a man earns. Where women with children earn 3 percent less than women without children, while men with children tend to earn 15 percent more than men without children. A generation that is disgusted to know that african american doctors earn 15 percent less than caucasian doctors.
So yeah, let's talk about pay. Let's let women and minorities know if their employer is penalizing them based on gender or race. Let's let them know we don't have to tolerate inequality.
This isn't about "give me more for less effort", it is about "give me equal for equal effort".
I don't understand why people are so sensitive about their salaries? It's just money. Having a high salary doesn't make you a good person , or a healthy person, or a happy person, Just like having a low salary doesn't mean you are less worthy, less honorable, or less generous.

In a privately owned and operated business, no one is forced to "tolerate inequality" however they may define it. They are free to leave at any time and look for a more favourable situation. Management and management alone determines an employee's relative value at our company. And believe me - not all "efforts" are equal.

And here's another thought: When hiring, my company will generally start low with wage offers. (Typically, the local market determines wages ranges within industries.) If that candidate declines we may or may not increase the offer, depending of course on how badly we want to make that hire. If the candidate accepts, why on earth would they then feel anything was "unfair", regardless of what any other employee is being paid?

 

[Colleen27]

But with the current generation, upping their game doesn’t play into th equation. Remember, we’re talking about the generation who was never disappointed as children, everyone made the team, everyone got an award.

My experience with the age group in question is that “it’s not fair. Everything should be fair. I shouldn’t have to up my game. It should just be fair”

When did fairness become a dirty word? Why should a woman or a minority have to "up his/her game" to earn the same wage as a white male counterpart?

We'd never accept that in the educational arena. Imagine a grading system that tried to assign women only 79% of the points men earn for the same answers. If the cut-off for a man to get an A was 90%, a woman would need 113% to achieve the same grade. The outcry would be immediate and virtually unanimous. But put them in the workforce, and anyone who objects to the tilted playing field is ridiculed for wanting fairness.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

I don't recall colleagues sharing their salary, at least not that often. But we all shared our annual bonus details. I always got a kick out of companies telling us "It's important not to share how much your bonus is with your colleagues." Hilarious.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

In a privately owned and operated business, no one is forced to "tolerate inequality" however they may define it. They are free to leave at any time and look for a more favourable situation. Management and management alone determines an employee's relative value at our company. And believe me - not all "efforts" are equal.

And here's another thought: When hiring, my company will generally start low with wage offers. (Typically, the local market determines wages ranges within industries.) If that candidate declines we may or may not increase the offer, depending of course on how badly we want to make that hire. If the candidate accepts, why on earth would they then feel anything was "unfair", regardless of what any other employee is being paid?

Are you implying that white males inherently put in a better effort? You don't think bias and prejudice might play into the wage gap even a little bit?

As to the second paragraph, there are many reasons a person might accept a low ball offer even if they are worth more. Maybe they really need this job, so they don't want to rock the boat. Maybe they don't know their own value. Maybe they are defeated by the reality that no matter what, they will always earn a fraction of what white males earn.

A company that truely values their employees will pay them and treat them fairly, which is a much smarter strategy in the long run. It costs 6 to 9 months' salary to replace an employee. It would be much smarter to just give a $10k raise (or whatever amount to be at fair markrt value) than train a new employee every 1 or 2 years.

Good examples of this include Costco and Aldi. They pay fair wages, have a good reputation amongst workers, and are thriving.