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Is Discussing Salaries With Co-Workers a Good Idea?

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20 comments on Is Discussing Salaries With Co-Workers a Good Idea?

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Salary Discussion is No Longer Taboo

The Wall Street Journal reports How Much Money Do Millennials Make? It’s No Longer a Taboo Question.

A 2019 survey by CreditCards.com found that 61% of millennials were comfortable discussing credit-card debt with their friends, compared with 43% of baby boomers. And a March report from Swedish fintech company Klarna said a recent global survey found that 50% of millennials believe it is important to talk openly about finances, compared with 41% of older generations.

Bailey Koch, 25, recently left her job at the Minnesota State Senate after having a conversation with her co-workers about their respective salaries. She was part of a three-person team where each person had the same job title when she learned that the most recent hire was making more money than she did.

Knowledge is Power

Q: Whose Interest Is It to Keep Wages Secret?
A: The company’s of course.

That’s what it comes down to. Companies do not want you to know who is underpaid or overpaid.

Ms. Koch ended up quitting when her salary increase was denied.

If someone is making more than you for doing less work, instead of being annoyed at your co-worker, you should be grateful for the knowledge. 

But if you ask or find out how much co-workers make, you have to be able to deal with the information.

As long as you can deal with the information no matter what it is, you are better off knowing and discussing.

Six Ways to Evaluate Your Job

  1. Do you like what you are doing?
  2. Do you like your co-workers?
  3. Do you like your boss? 
  4. Are you OK with your commute?
  5. Are you OK with your career path?
  6. Are you OK with your salary?

If you are not happy with any of those you should be out as soon as you can find something else. 

You may like what you are doing and how much you are paid, but bad co-workers, a bad boss, and a long commute can make one miserable. 

If you are happy with all but number 6 you might want to think carefully about quitting just for more money.

Mish

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Mish

Mike Shedlock

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MaxMax
MaxMax
4 years ago
My first job out of college was for Electronic Data Systems (EDS) back in the Ross Perot days.  This is back in 1986.  Here were some of the work place rules:
– If you discussed your salary with anyone, you were fired.
– Men were not allowed to have any facial hair.
– Men had to wear blue or white button shirts.  Dark suits.
– No fuzzy black socks.  Lace up black shoes or loafers were OK.
– Drug test before hiring.
– Women only allowed to wear skirts or dresses.
– Cohabitation would get you fired.
– For my 1 1/2 training program, if you left in the first three years, you had to pay them the equivalent of $30,000 in today’s money
– Programmers were paid by the week but expected to work 60-80 hours.
– Traveling employees had to share hotel rooms assuming you were the same sex.
In spite of all this, the company had a lot of quite nice perks.  Corporate headquarters where I worked in built on a country club golf course.  At lunch, you could play some rounds of golf, swim in their outdoor pool, work out at their gym.  It was a great company to work for, and they paid me quite well.
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Esclaro
Esclaro
4 years ago
I accidentally found out a coworkers salary and discovered that I was not being compensated for my performance. In the following years I made sure that I received huge salary increases. By then both management and I knew that something needed to be done or I would leave.
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Casual_Observer
Casual_Observer
4 years ago
The problem is if the same performance is not getting compensated fairly.  Additionally it isnt different or better at most places in corporate America because it is still mostly business as usual.
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Corvinus
Corvinus
4 years ago
I’ve had a list of job satisfaction criteria similar to the 6 above for a while that i try to make a reasonable balanced assessment of. Earlier this year the balance was upended and I am now looking to find greener pastures myself.
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Corvinus
Corvinus
4 years ago
I think one of the things preventing a frank discussion between colleagues about salary is a sense of not wanting to feel like you’re getting shafted even though you might have a sense that’s the case.
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Eddie_T
Eddie_T
4 years ago
I’ve never had employees who kept their pay private. It’s part of the pecking order and none of them can keep their mouths shut for five minutes if they get a raise. I just assume that it will be public knowledge immediately.
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KyleW
KyleW
4 years ago
I don’t think so. People can become resentful if they find out you’re making more than them. Or you can become resentful if you find out someone is making more than you. In some cases people bragged about their money and got robbed. I just prefer to keep finances private.
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Doug78
Doug78
4 years ago
I suppose you could tell them if you are absolutely sure they would use this intimate knowledge for only the purpose of comparison and not pass it on to other parties or use it in ways that could hurt you. We could also compare passwords to measure how secure they are. Call me old fashioned but my finances are personal. 
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PostCambrian
PostCambrian
4 years ago
As someone who had others work under me (and indirect input into their wages and/or salary), I can tell you that there are quite a few people that are unable to properly assess their own work quality (and sometimes quantity). These typically are the people who will quickly quit if their salary demands are not met.  Many times the salary demand is not met because it is quite likely that they can be replaced by someone better or if not better then easier to work with.  So in addition to the six questions that you list you need a seventh.  7. Are you able to honestly evaluate your own work in relation to others in your company?  Another way of phrasing it would be 7. Would you immediately be hired by another company at the salary that you are requesting from your current company?
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LostNOregon
LostNOregon
4 years ago
Reply to  PostCambrian
Agreed. I have had quite a few inherited employees who suffered mightily from the Dunning-Krueger Syndrome!
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threeblindmice
threeblindmice
4 years ago
Knowledge is power.  If they’re comfortable discussing salaries…. why not?
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Jojo
Jojo
4 years ago
Millennials might do this because they seem to believe that everyone should get paid equal for the same work.  Unfortunately, that isn’t how the world works.
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whirlaway
whirlaway
4 years ago
Reply to  Jojo
Workers can change the way the world works.  It is not just the rich bosses.
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Scooot
Scooot
4 years ago
You might find out you’re overpaid and as a result of the discussion speed up dismissal because everybody else moans. 🙂 
People don’t always tell the truth. 
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ajc1970
ajc1970
4 years ago
In my commercial leases, the landlords wrote into my leases, “will not discuss lease terms with other tenants.”

Employers can’t do that with their employees. But you can bet they would like to. Some foster a culture that discourages those discussions.

If you’re friends with your co-workers, you discuss it. But you never mention to your employer that you or they discussed it.  You just use the information to your advantage, when possible.

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davebarnes2
davebarnes2
4 years ago
Yes.
Next stupid question.
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Mish
Mish
4 years ago
Reply to  davebarnes2
I disagree and apparently so does a huge percentage of millennials 
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Corvinus
Corvinus
4 years ago
Reply to  Mish
Millennials have a lot of ‘good ideas’ – most are just plain stupid – so i wouldn’t use that as a justification of any kind.
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TexasTim65
TexasTim65
4 years ago
Reply to  davebarnes2
Presumably this was one way that women found out that they were being paid less than men for doing the same job (60s-70s) that led to legislation about equal pay for equal work.
I often discussed salaries with co-workers when I was younger. Mostly because the jobs were very comparable (ie lots of entry level engineers out of college working at same place or in different places in similar industries). As you get older and promoted into more unique positions in terms of responsibilities it gets harder to do apples to apples comparisons.
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jfpersona1
jfpersona1
4 years ago
Reply to  davebarnes2
You’re being flippant (and humorous – I had a chuckle); but I would actually flip the question — why do you think it is so important to keep this a ‘big secret’?
Markets work best with a wide flow of information across all players in the market — why would the job/salary market be different?
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