4 ms·

>Finally, I’m willing to bet a tenth of my monthly pay that should wage transparency become mandatory, the overall salary range will fall throughout the industr

>Finally, I’m willing to bet a tenth of my monthly pay that should wage transparency become mandatory, the overall salary range will fall throughout the industry (at least in the short term), as this is how organisations generally deal with forced initiatives. I would like to see how this would all play out. Generally people know roughly what the market is paying, and unless desperate, people probably aren't inclined to pursue roles paying far less than a) they are currently getting, b) the market is generally paying. So assuming the industry drops rem in lockstep, people stick to their current role, or they wait for an org to need talent enough to raise the pay on offer. The market evens out again eventually, surely ("at least in the short term"). That said, I'm a casual observer and I'm speculating wildly. Did find the "aw, poor HR" moments in the article amusing though.

galangalalgol 3y ago
Inflation will eat the pay of people sitting on a good check because the company will give terrible updates to the pay knowing there isn't a good rock to hop to.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  Some companies will. Some companies will have to give more pay knowing there is a better rock to hop to. Aka, a better functioning market because all participants have more information.
  - galangalalgol 3y ago
    I don't know how realistic employers colluding to hold wages down is, but if it happens, this transparency is also a public signal they can legally use to verify the other employers aren't cheating to get better talent.
    - sedev 3y ago
      Since they've done it before — https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/24/306592297/tech-giants-settle-wage-fixing-lawsuit https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/24/306592297... — I would consider it highly realistic.
    - kevin_thibedeau 3y ago
      It has already happened. Apple, Google, Intel, and Adobe settled a class action in 2014 over their anti-poaching agreement. https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/silicon-valleys-poaching-case-growing-debate-employee-mobility/ https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/silicon-valleys-...
      - hotnfresh 3y ago
        My pet theory is that their awful interview processes are at least in part another form of this. Why put someone who's already passed at your FAANG before, and at another in between, through the expensive and painful interview process again? Makes a lot more sense if there's a tacit agreement to do this to slow the velocity of labor movement among the top-paying companies, which would have the effect of suppressing wage growth.
        avidiax 3y ago
        My theory is more subtle. I think that the long, opaque, fairly bureaucratic hiring experience is a type of "shit test" (to co-opt the term used in another less-respected community). These companies need insecure overachievers. People that are brilliant, but aren't so sure of themselves that they will jump ship after the 2nd reorg in 14 months, after being passed over for promotion because their solution didn't demonstrate "complexity", after completing a 15 point launch review to add a checkbox to a webapp. The type of people that won't be too disappointed in plugging leaks in a data analytics pipeline for 2 years after they spent 6 months Leetcoding and cramming "Designing Data Intensive Applications". It also has the effect that the timing of your FANG offer is hard to predict, so it's hard to align with other offers for leverage.
    - lotsofpulp 3y ago
      They can buy wage data anytime they want. https://theworknumber.com/ https://theworknumber.com/
- jkubicek 3y ago
  This is exactly happening today. The company already knows exactly how much their competitors are paying
  - Supermancho 3y ago
    I haven't found that to be true. Negotiated wages are very different from employee to employee (in the same role), between companies, between roles, and how those valuations are done (ShortTermIncentives and LTIs). REI vs Cambia vs JPMC, the wages (both incentivized and not) are wildly different and they don't seem to care a bit.
- carlosjobim 3y ago
  The rock to hop to is starting your own shop. Or taking a sabbatical. Or just working less hours. Can the company afford that instead of giving a raise?

galangalalgol 3y ago

Inflation will eat the pay of people sitting on a good check because the company will give terrible updates to the pay knowing there isn't a good rock to hop to.

lotsofpulp 3y ago
Some companies will. Some companies will have to give more pay knowing there is a better rock to hop to. Aka, a better functioning market because all participants have more information.
- galangalalgol 3y ago
  I don't know how realistic employers colluding to hold wages down is, but if it happens, this transparency is also a public signal they can legally use to verify the other employers aren't cheating to get better talent.
  - sedev 3y ago
    Since they've done it before — https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/24/306592297/tech-giants-settle-wage-fixing-lawsuit https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/24/306592297... — I would consider it highly realistic.
  - kevin_thibedeau 3y ago
    It has already happened. Apple, Google, Intel, and Adobe settled a class action in 2014 over their anti-poaching agreement. https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/silicon-valleys-poaching-case-growing-debate-employee-mobility/ https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/silicon-valleys-...
    - hotnfresh 3y ago
      My pet theory is that their awful interview processes are at least in part another form of this. Why put someone who's already passed at your FAANG before, and at another in between, through the expensive and painful interview process again? Makes a lot more sense if there's a tacit agreement to do this to slow the velocity of labor movement among the top-paying companies, which would have the effect of suppressing wage growth.
      - avidiax 3y ago
        My theory is more subtle. I think that the long, opaque, fairly bureaucratic hiring experience is a type of "shit test" (to co-opt the term used in another less-respected community). These companies need insecure overachievers. People that are brilliant, but aren't so sure of themselves that they will jump ship after the 2nd reorg in 14 months, after being passed over for promotion because their solution didn't demonstrate "complexity", after completing a 15 point launch review to add a checkbox to a webapp. The type of people that won't be too disappointed in plugging leaks in a data analytics pipeline for 2 years after they spent 6 months Leetcoding and cramming "Designing Data Intensive Applications". It also has the effect that the timing of your FANG offer is hard to predict, so it's hard to align with other offers for leverage.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    They can buy wage data anytime they want. https://theworknumber.com/ https://theworknumber.com/
jkubicek 3y ago
This is exactly happening today. The company already knows exactly how much their competitors are paying
- Supermancho 3y ago
  I haven't found that to be true. Negotiated wages are very different from employee to employee (in the same role), between companies, between roles, and how those valuations are done (ShortTermIncentives and LTIs). REI vs Cambia vs JPMC, the wages (both incentivized and not) are wildly different and they don't seem to care a bit.
carlosjobim 3y ago
The rock to hop to is starting your own shop. Or taking a sabbatical. Or just working less hours. Can the company afford that instead of giving a raise?