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Indeed, towards the end of the piece, the author acknowledges this: "Of course, many workers don’t withhold their salaries out of respect for their supervisors

by hhs 5y ago

Indeed, towards the end of the piece, the author acknowledges this: "Of course, many workers don’t withhold their salaries out of respect for their supervisors’ wishes but because it can be deeply awkward. “We have a culture that discourages it,” Pardo said. “People don’t want to talk about money. It’s like talking about religion and politics. It’s uncomfortable.” As a result, many may be unaware of what the person in the other cubicle or on the other end of the Zoom call earns. While employer review websites like Glassdoor offer a window into company pay, UNC’s Hirsch pointed out this data is often incomplete and certainly not uploaded for all companies."

EvanAnderson 5y ago
To what extent was this cultural stigma created by companies who wanted to discourage their workers from discussing pay, though? It seems more like an effect than a cause to me.
- blululu 5y ago
  I think that this is a much older sentiment than modern corporations. For one thing the aversion to discussing wealth is more potent in contexts where the information is less related to market forces - people are more open to information about salaries when it is related to their line of work. Saying how much money you make in public (even among friends) is seen as a jerk thing to do. Instead people will say things like 'the starting salary in my field is...', or 'a senior level employee doing this makes around...' - a actual number for them personally is seldom offered (nor should it be outside of very intimate contexts (family). From an informal observation this prohibition is common across Protestant societies, though I think it also shows up around the globe. Talking about money publicly is seen as vulgar and viewing people in terms of money is seen as demeaning to their fundamental worth. You can find religious antecedents to such sentiments from thousands of years ago, so it is unlikely that these were promulgated by corporate interests.
  - splistud 5y ago
    It's completely cultural. Talking about money is considered by many to be crass. I mean, one might as well have tattoos!

by hhs 5y ago

EvanAnderson 5y ago

To what extent was this cultural stigma created by companies who wanted to discourage their workers from discussing pay, though? It seems more like an effect than a cause to me.

blululu 5y ago
I think that this is a much older sentiment than modern corporations. For one thing the aversion to discussing wealth is more potent in contexts where the information is less related to market forces - people are more open to information about salaries when it is related to their line of work. Saying how much money you make in public (even among friends) is seen as a jerk thing to do. Instead people will say things like 'the starting salary in my field is...', or 'a senior level employee doing this makes around...' - a actual number for them personally is seldom offered (nor should it be outside of very intimate contexts (family). From an informal observation this prohibition is common across Protestant societies, though I think it also shows up around the globe. Talking about money publicly is seen as vulgar and viewing people in terms of money is seen as demeaning to their fundamental worth. You can find religious antecedents to such sentiments from thousands of years ago, so it is unlikely that these were promulgated by corporate interests.
- splistud 5y ago
  It's completely cultural. Talking about money is considered by many to be crass. I mean, one might as well have tattoos!