I've been open about my salary for years with friends and family and the taboo is starting to change it seems. When I first started talking about salary in the early-2000's I met a lot of resistance, but now I've notice friends dropping how much they make in casual conversation.

For me at least, there is no embarrassment and instead is used to make decisions about the future. If someone makes more, I ask myself why and how can I get there? If someone makes significantly less, and they care to know, I tell them how I got to where I am in hopes of helping them.

Unfortunately, employers trying to squash this has not changed. I remember 15 years ago when I got sat down the first time, by a fortune 100 company, and told we do not talk about salary. I also remember when the same conversation happened in a start up just a few months ago. The motivation still hasn't changed -- keep the worker 'happy' and underpaid whenever possible through information disparity, intimidation and "right to work" laws.