Why is it Important to Know How Much Your Coworkers are Paid?

Asking your coworkers how much they get paid is often an avoided question. Many people avoid it out of fear, while many others avoid it to save themselves and their coworkers from the embarrassment of learning about their salary disparity. To know how much your coworkers are paid, on the other hand, is critical for a variety of reasons, some of which David Burkus discusses in this TED Talks video.

Coworkers frequently avoid enquiring about their individual pay in order to maintain a strong interpersonal connection, since learning about a salary disparity may cause embarrassment and, in extreme situations, lead to an altercation. Some people may become so dissatisfied as a result of this that they opt to leave and work for a competitor. David, on the other hand, believes that to know how much your coworkers are paid is critical. Workplaces that impose pay transparency have a comparatively healthier work atmosphere than those that do not, according to the statistics. When people are not sure how much they are paid compared to their coworkers, they often believe they are underpaid. David debunks the myths about salary secrecy, claiming that it is an excellent technique to save a lot of money. According to economists, keeping pay a secret is known as “information asymmetry.” It happens when one side has a lot more knowledge than the other during a negotiation, which the employer may exploit to save a lot of money on assessments. David feels that if employees understood how much their peers who do almost the same amount of work, if not less, are paid, they would be able to negotiate effectively. Information asymmetry, according to David, can lead to a complete market collapse. Pay secrecy overlooks the existing prejudice in the marketplace. Pay secrecy is also a great technique to increase the gender wage gap. As a result, if we truly do not want any of those things to happen, it is critical for employees to be able to come up about their pay without fear of being judged. According to David, the greatest approach to assure justice is to be open. Even if they discover that they are underpaid, they are more likely to work hard and improve their performance to the point where they are paid equally, and they are less likely to resign. As a result, it is critical to know how much your coworkers are paid in order to negotiate effectively, recognize where you fall short on performance, and maintain workplace confidence.

Salaries are one of the many things that are kept hidden at work. There are a variety of reasons that explain why is it important to know how much your coworkers are paid, some of which are addressed in this TED Talks video by David Burkus.