Member-only story
Salary transparency is a pretty messy topic for a host of reasons tied to “what makes us human.” I’ll try to run down a few of the core problems, but it might take a hot second. Bear with me.
This varies by family, of course, but generally you’re not supposed to discuss money growing up. In some ways it’s considered “gauche.” If you come from a family like that (many do), there’s a good chance that — unless you try to change this — your financial literacy will not be amazing. You just don’t have the framework and vocabulary for it. There is research all over the place that most people in white-collar jobs don’t understand what their salary even represents. In my mind, there’s a direct line between “couldn’t discuss this stuff as a kid” and “How is my salary calculated?”
That’s Tier I.
Tier II of the problem: companies now have almost all the information, and thus almost all the power. There are a few companies here and there who have chased salary transparency. Buffer is one example. And there are some states and non-profits embracing pay transparency too, but the overall concept is still pretty far off.
Now shift quickly to the micro level.
We’ve all had jobs where there’s some guy named Jason or whatever. Jason does nothing all day, and we all know…
