Researchers at a large commercial bank in Asia asked employees to guess their colleagues' salaries. They found that workers were on average over confident in how much information they had. About 60% of them thought that they were able to guess that average within about 5%. And this is even when we introduced fancy prizes for correct guesses, so they were incentivized to tell us the truth.
One of the primary reasons we work is to earn money, but many of us feel uncomfortable telling others how much we make. This fear may be working against women, because research has shown that salary transparency can help narrow the gender pay gap.
With the help of experts, we explore the complexities of talking about our salaries. First, an economist walks through the pros and cons of disclosing your pay. Then, the host of a personal finance podcast explains why she encourages people to speak openly about salaries. Finally, an HR executive gives advice on how to deal with the gut punch of learning that a peer makes more than you do.
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Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.