4 ms·

I don't think this is a right way to go about trying to narrow the gender wage gap. Half of the reason we have one (a wage gap) is because it's taboo in Americ

I don't think this is a right way to go about trying to narrow the gender wage gap. Half of the reason we have one (a wage gap) is because it's taboo in America to reveal how much you get paid with your co-workers. It makes no sense to me why that is the case, all it does it allow the company to screw you over more. The solutions should be to have each company come up with there own publicly available pay scale that says you make this much and every year it will go up by X as you gain experience. AKA how to government does things, I'm not saying it's the best system, but you know if they are a gs13 step 5 they get paid X dollars regardless of anything.

sharemywin 9y ago
The problem with that is an employer doesn't have any discretion on using pay increases as feedback for performance.
- sefpfi12 9y ago
  While agree that is a problem, I also think that if you gave that power back to the employer you would end up seeing a wage gap form as they give raises people who they like/shoot the shit with/are the same skin color as them/the list goes on.
rajeshp1986 9y ago
It is a good step towards that. Although top management in companies wants to bridge the gender gap but when it comes to hiring, the HR & recruiters get biased and tend to be biased towards candidates with lower salary expectations. They want to check how much the candidate was getting paid, which gives them more room to bargain with salary expectations. IMHO, the salary of a job should be based on how much the company is willing to pay to get the job done. It should not be dependent on how much the candidate was getting paid by previous company. What if the previous employer was harassing or taking advantage? how does it matter if I was in my previous job working at McDonald's and getting paid peanuts? Selection of a candidate should be purely based on talent, skills & Merit.
- sefpfi12 9y ago
  why I suggested each company have there own pay scale, like google will pay 60k for a programer, microsoft 65k and maybe they scale different, but it should be searchable. (numbers made up)
morgante 9y ago
And that's how you end up with a system which very few top performers want to work under. I positively shudder at the thought of a system which coupled my compensation to years of experience. That is in no way a reliable gauge of ability and smart companies know that. Nor do I want my coworkers knowing what I make. That fosters an atmosphere of competition where anyone who makes less than me is jealous.
- sefpfi12 9y ago
  Because everyone is a super awesome top performer? I think not, if anything the right way would be to have a balanced team with each person being experts in there own field. Also, from my experience going from meh to top performer boils down to motivation and not skill. Among some other minor things. While you don't want co-workers knowing what you make, I assume because you think/know you make more than them? what happens when you find out you messed up and everyone you work with makes more than you? Regardless of that answer as long as wages are taboo to talk about or "fosters competition" there will ALWAYS be a wage gap. whether it's because of conscious or unconscious bias. And I get it, right know I'm the lowest paid worker on my team, while generally outshining the rest on my skill. I just don't have a degree, and not that much "professional" time in the field. <-- but that's another problem in it's own right.

sharemywin 9y ago

The problem with that is an employer doesn't have any discretion on using pay increases as feedback for performance.

sefpfi12 9y ago
While agree that is a problem, I also think that if you gave that power back to the employer you would end up seeing a wage gap form as they give raises people who they like/shoot the shit with/are the same skin color as them/the list goes on.

rajeshp1986 9y ago

It is a good step towards that. Although top management in companies wants to bridge the gender gap but when it comes to hiring, the HR & recruiters get biased and tend to be biased towards candidates with lower salary expectations. They want to check how much the candidate was getting paid, which gives them more room to bargain with salary expectations. IMHO, the salary of a job should be based on how much the company is willing to pay to get the job done. It should not be dependent on how much the candidate was getting paid by previous company. What if the previous employer was harassing or taking advantage? how does it matter if I was in my previous job working at McDonald's and getting paid peanuts? Selection of a candidate should be purely based on talent, skills & Merit.

sefpfi12 9y ago
why I suggested each company have there own pay scale, like google will pay 60k for a programer, microsoft 65k and maybe they scale different, but it should be searchable. (numbers made up)

morgante 9y ago

And that's how you end up with a system which very few top performers want to work under. I positively shudder at the thought of a system which coupled my compensation to years of experience. That is in no way a reliable gauge of ability and smart companies know that. Nor do I want my coworkers knowing what I make. That fosters an atmosphere of competition where anyone who makes less than me is jealous.

sefpfi12 9y ago
Because everyone is a super awesome top performer? I think not, if anything the right way would be to have a balanced team with each person being experts in there own field. Also, from my experience going from meh to top performer boils down to motivation and not skill. Among some other minor things. While you don't want co-workers knowing what you make, I assume because you think/know you make more than them? what happens when you find out you messed up and everyone you work with makes more than you? Regardless of that answer as long as wages are taboo to talk about or "fosters competition" there will ALWAYS be a wage gap. whether it's because of conscious or unconscious bias. And I get it, right know I'm the lowest paid worker on my team, while generally outshining the rest on my skill. I just don't have a degree, and not that much "professional" time in the field. <-- but that's another problem in it's own right.