>people have time to accept that there's just that one incompetent guy makin...

kelnos · on April 12, 2011

I've never personally heard of a person getting upset upon discovering someone else's private salary.

I have, on several occasions. I've been that upset person once, even.

I know lots of people who are dissatisfied because they're obviously far more valuable than a peer at the same level, and lots of people who are resented because of their parasitism at a higher-level job. (This is in the government system, where salaries are pretty transparent.)

And that's exactly how it should be. If you're far more valuable than a peer but are being paid the same or less, you should be dissatisfied. Ignorance may be bliss, but I'd rather know I'm getting shafted so I can either renegotiate or look for a better opportunity.

shpxnvz · on April 13, 2011

If you're far more valuable than a peer but are being paid the same or less, you should be dissatisfied.

Value is not only completely subjective, but almost always biased. Most people think they are more valuable than their peers, and most are wrong.

kelnos · on April 13, 2011

I didn't say "peers" (plural). I said "peer." It's one thing to take your peers as a whole and say you're better than them (and I'd agree that, by definition, if most people make that determination, they're wrong), but a very different thing to take a single peer and believe that you're better. You may still be wrong, but it's easier to semi-objectively evaluate differences between your skills and a single other person's.

Of course everyone is biased to some extent, but the bottom line is that some people will correctly assess as skills difference. If you have 10 people of varying ability (even only slightly varying), all making the same amount, 5 of them will be equal or better than the average of all of them.

danssig · on April 13, 2011

Then they should get unhappy, they should test the market and they should find out that they're wrong. Who knows, maybe they'll realize they need to step up their game.

I really hate this "just keep 'em dumb and happy" nonsense. We're not children (and you shouldn't treat children like that either).

bricestacey · on April 13, 2011

I'm a state employee and my salary is public so take my experiences for a grain of salt if you work in the private sector.

We do get pissed about people making more money for less work, but we get over it. The people in it until retirement (and their 80% pension) know they're sitting on too sweet a deal to care. Those that know they're temporary either acknowledge it's temporary (e.g. I'm leaving soon after I get my diploma) or couldn't get much of a better deal anyway. In other words, our complaint is less about our situation (cuz if we wanted different, we'd have gone off and gotten it) and more a critique on HR's assessment of value, like armchair quarterbacking for HR or something like that...

michaelochurch · on April 12, 2011

For me, what I can't stand is when an incompetent has more power and influence than I do. That will have be quitting on the spot. If he's making slightly more money than I am, but no one takes him seriously and his shitty ideas aren't being imposed on me or the rest of the team, then why do I care? He's not in an enviable position. As a highly-paid incompetent, he'll be the first one let go when there's a need to lay people off.

sreitshamer · on April 12, 2011

My corporate-environment programming experience taught me that competence has no weight. Everybody just wants to get along and be friends. People who are buddies with the manager get more pay and advancement than others even if they are far less competent. They also tend to survive layoffs.