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I see where you're coming from, and I think there are things negotiation does well. Negotiation allows a company to offer more (or less) than a standard wage w
by HaseebQ 10y ago
I see where you're coming from, and I think there are things negotiation does well.
Negotiation allows a company to offer more (or less) than a standard wage when a candidate genuinely offers more or less value for the same position. Economically, that seems like a good thing, and I consider that the principal virtue of negotiation.
But the downside is that negotiation enables candidates who are better at negotiating to command stronger offers (because they're more charismatic, or courageous, or just better studied in the practice of negotiating). That's clearly arbitrary. Negotiating skill is an axis that's mostly orthogonal to the value a candidate brings to a company. Here the public sector's system of having fixed, publicly known wages for positions is a good one. Candidates who are good at negotiating make just as much as candidates who are bad at it.
The question then boils down to how much of the variation in negotiated offers can be attributed to variation value as opposed to variation in negotiating skills.
I suspect it's weighted toward the latter. But if you think it's mostly toward the former, then I think it's sensible to claim that negotiation is mostly a good thing.
- imh 10y ago>The question then boils down to how much of the variation in negotiated offers can be attributed to variation value as opposed to variation in negotiating skills. I think this covers most of it, but it all feels like it's only one side of the supply-demand equation. All else equal, the value to the company doesn't change whether you are one of 100 people with your skill set or one of a gazillion. But the wages certainly will. I think that's totally fair thing, and we can't get it with your model of just value to the company and negotiating skill.
- superuser2 10y ago>Here the public sector's system of having fixed, publicly known wages for positions is a good one Public sector wages are fixed, but those who are so inclined can generally get a nice (deterministic) salary bump in perpetuity by going to graduate school. I'm not sure how the tech industry would provide an analogous opportunity to be rewarded better for higher skills, given that many here actually respect you less for having a Masters or PhD.