4 ms·

I'm sure there are plenty of ways for this to backfire, but I've always thought one of the most effective ways to eliminate salary bias is for companies to list

I'm sure there are plenty of ways for this to backfire, but I've always thought one of the most effective ways to eliminate salary bias is for companies to list a role's salary up front, in the job posting, before they've begun interviewing. That way the salary is roughly set before the gender, race, height, physical attractiveness (i.e. any qualities that can cause unconscious bias) is known about whatever candidate a company eventually hires. Obviously it wouldn't outright prevent negotiating - you could still ask for $15k above what they listed in the job posting - but it WOULD help candidates navigate some of the smaller moments during the interview process that can unknowingly undermine their negotiating position (e.g. "How much did you make in your last role?").

cmiles74 11y ago
IMHO, managers like to keep salaries private so that they can take advantage of people who are not great at negotiating. My suspicion is that they believe they come out ahead: the few hires who negotiate high pay are outweighed by the many who end up with lower pay. I'd also be surprised if many of them were concerned that minorities or women ending up with lower pay; it seems like a great opportunity to blame these hires for being, again, poor negotiaters.
- chebum 11y ago
  I work for a company with a fully transparent salary ladder in development department. We know how much every team mate earns. Still negotiation skills come to play. Those with better skills get promoted _faster_.
- marrs 11y ago
  I suspect it's more because companies can't chose when they have to expand a team. If they need 5 new devs and they need them now, they are in a weak position when negotiating salary. Publicising that a new unproven hire is earning more than existing proven staff is simply going to cause people to leave, which is even worse for the business than not hiring new staff.
paulhauggis 11y ago
Why would the company want to do this? Its a contract negociation.

cmiles74 11y ago

IMHO, managers like to keep salaries private so that they can take advantage of people who are not great at negotiating. My suspicion is that they believe they come out ahead: the few hires who negotiate high pay are outweighed by the many who end up with lower pay. I'd also be surprised if many of them were concerned that minorities or women ending up with lower pay; it seems like a great opportunity to blame these hires for being, again, poor negotiaters.

chebum 11y ago
I work for a company with a fully transparent salary ladder in development department. We know how much every team mate earns. Still negotiation skills come to play. Those with better skills get promoted _faster_.
marrs 11y ago
I suspect it's more because companies can't chose when they have to expand a team. If they need 5 new devs and they need them now, they are in a weak position when negotiating salary. Publicising that a new unproven hire is earning more than existing proven staff is simply going to cause people to leave, which is even worse for the business than not hiring new staff.

paulhauggis 11y ago

Why would the company want to do this? Its a contract negociation.