A sudden release of numbers might cause that, but ideally the culture is built around transparency and salary gaps are actually an opportunity to have discussio

A sudden release of numbers might cause that, but ideally the culture is built around transparency and salary gaps are actually an opportunity to have discussions with your manager like "what can I do to close the performance gap and make the same amount as X?" It ensures that salary distributions can be justified, and that employees have goals they can strive towards rather than the current variable reward system where you work as hard as you can and hope your employer decides to reward you this year.