3 ms·

I think there is something sort of foolish about the fact that across the board employees are basically not allowed to mention real numbers regarding how much t

I think there is something sort of foolish about the fact that across the board employees are basically not allowed to mention real numbers regarding how much they make or even things like the industry average pay. Read these threads and you almost never hear anyone mention real numbers because they are terrified of either being fired or having their peers realize what a good/bad deal they've made. Yet, in a lot of public institutions like Universities, public schools, salaries are a lot more transparent. Companies probably don't want people to know what other people make because it gives the individual leverage to negotiate. We as developers are terrible at negotiating and don't want to admit it. Anecdotally, in Lincoln, NE I've seen developers paid anywhere from $25,000 to $120,000, but most range in the $35,000 - 65,000 range. I believe most devs at UNL or the state of NE fall between 45k and 65k, but some can be a good bit higher. What gets me is if a dev in the midwest who would normally get paid $60,000 or so, how much should they get paid as a remote worker for a startup in SF? In SF I assume a dev costs $120,000 or more, so if you were being hired there what is the right number to ask for? In a truly remote work environment, does it really make sense to pay dramatically less or more just because of where someone lives? Is someone's relative value decided by their location or by their skills and abilities?

dankoss 12y ago
I'd suggest the reason people don't want to talk about how much they make is that it's a reflection of their self worth, and there's always someone who can anonymously claim to make more.
michaelt 12y ago
Companies probably don't want people to know what other people make because it gives the individual leverage to negotiate. We as developers are terrible at negotiating and don't want to admit it. If you're a developer who is good at negotiating, it's a whole lot easier to negotiate a $20,000 raise for yourself than to negotiate the same raise for everyone on the same pay grade. If I make the company $200,000 that funds my $20,000 raise right there - if it's just a raise for me. If I have to fund the same raise for 100 other guys before I can have one myself, funding that will be about 100 times more difficult.
- dnt404-1 12y ago
  totally true that negotiating for oneself is very easy than the rest of the team. back when i was working (before taking studies), it was easy to get my pay raised, however later as i became team leader, and when i tried to raise the pay for all of my team and that never really went through.

dankoss 12y ago

I'd suggest the reason people don't want to talk about how much they make is that it's a reflection of their self worth, and there's always someone who can anonymously claim to make more.

michaelt 12y ago

Companies probably don't want people to know what other people make because it gives the individual leverage to negotiate. We as developers are terrible at negotiating and don't want to admit it. If you're a developer who is good at negotiating, it's a whole lot easier to negotiate a $20,000 raise for yourself than to negotiate the same raise for everyone on the same pay grade. If I make the company $200,000 that funds my $20,000 raise right there - if it's just a raise for me. If I have to fund the same raise for 100 other guys before I can have one myself, funding that will be about 100 times more difficult.

dnt404-1 12y ago
totally true that negotiating for oneself is very easy than the rest of the team. back when i was working (before taking studies), it was easy to get my pay raised, however later as i became team leader, and when i tried to raise the pay for all of my team and that never really went through.