Indeed, secrecy surrounding pay is generally a bad idea for any organization. Ben Horowitz[1] has the best explanation of why that is: it can’t help but foment

Indeed, secrecy surrounding pay is generally a bad idea for any organization. Ben Horowitz[1] has the best explanation of why that is: it can’t help but foment poisonous internal politics. But there are other reasons, too. I'm pretty sure Ben Horowitz doesn't suggest making employee compensation public, but promoting / giving raises on a regular cycle. [1] http://www.bhorowitz.com/how_to_minimize_politics_in_your_company http://www.bhorowitz.com/how_to_minimize_politics_in_your_co... I chuckled when I read this statement. Having worked for the government, I can say with certainty that transparent salaries don't reduce poisonous politics. If anything, they make it worse. Knowing that certain incompetent co-workers were making vastly more money that me for more or less the same job motivated me to leave for the private sector where I at least had a chance of being paid what I was worth. Of course, such discrepancies can exist there too, but at least the exact numbers aren't right in my face.