Wouldn't workers better be able to negotiate if salary information were public? Like if you think you're worth more than person X, and you know X is being paid Y, it gives you a floor to ask for.
No reason why my coworkers should make more or less than me if we have the same title. Making salary information public either through averages per title or ranges (upper and lower) should naturally even out the salaries per title. As things stand, some people are privileged in all sorts of ways when it comes to a company’s undisclosed salary ranges. For example, in my last role I had a friend in the company who could confirm two separate salaries for the role I was applying and I was offered 10% lower than those two salaries. I can ask for a 15% increase in my counteroffer and be confident this is a valid number. If I didn’t have friends who were in the industry that weren’t comfortable sharing salary ranges, I’d have to stick to the Levels FYI site, but my last company wasn’t on there.
When I left, I learned new hires, who were new to tech, earned less than I did when I was at their title. It may be awkward socially to have people know how much I make (or even within a range) but it’s better than the economic disadvantages that unconnected applicants face in today’s job markets. Hope that offers some insight.
Of course there is. You wrote a book and they didn't. They have more relevant experience than you. The hiring manager really wanted you but you had a competing offer and they didn't. They are young and wanted more equity and you wanted higher cash.
There are a whole host of reasons why people in the same title can make wildly different salaries - they're not all nefarious.
Whether I think it's fair or not is irrelevant, it is normal/standard practice that getting multiple offers simultaneously will increase your compensation across most or all of those offers.
And how is it against the company's interests to pay its employees a salary they'll accept?
Seriously. I'm not saying it should necessarily be public information, but "I don't wanna" isn't a good reason for anything. What damage is done to you because someone knows you make $45k vs. $145k vs. $445k? You are not harmed in any way. But the people making $45k while all their coworkers are making $95k have some information that they can use to objectively improve the lives of them and their families.
I say this as someone who is the highest paid person on my team. I stand to gain basically nothing from having salaries published, whether anonymous or not. But I still think it could be done in a way that helps underpaid and underrepresented people.
I agree to most of what you say.
Having said that, trying to answer your question:
> What damage is done to you because someone knows you make $45k vs. $145k vs. $445k? You are not harmed in any way.
Many people believe, probably not incorrectly, that the salary line item in the budget is a fixed one. Hence, it is a zero-sum game. If their colleague negotiates better pay, their own pay will be negatively impacted, in this world view.