Gen Z Could Balance the Pay Scale

You know how all of us get really annoyed when we want to buy something online and the seller replies with “inbox”? It’s really unprofessional! Well, this is also what most employers do by not disclosing the salary for a job. Instead, they listed it as a “competitive salary” which means absolutely nothing, if it’s really competitive, you’d have publicized it already! The lack of pay transparency not only impacts your lifestyle but impacts the employees’ retention scale.

What is pay transparency?

It’s exactly what it entails, it’s being open about employees’ salaries among their peers. Some may think that it’s a bit invasive, I mean why do I have to tell anyone how much I earn?! It’s not an obligation but it’s a step towards an equal future for all.

Why it matters?

People leave because of work culture, but they come for the salary. From an employee’s perspective, it is unfair to go through three or more rounds of interviews for a below-average salary. Not only did you waste another person’s time but your own as well! Knowing what to expect, and knowing what you deserve is not a perk of a business, it’s your right!

Pay transparency will also close the gender pay gap. Taylor Swift said it best: "I'm so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I'd get there quicker
if I was a man."

IDK about you, but I know a lot of women -including myself- who were paid less for the same job as a man just because of their gender. I know it’s 2022, but trust me there are still people who think that women deserve less pay because they’re not “the main provider”. Yes, these people live under a rock and there’s no doubt about that!

It also benefits employers. Knowing their peers' salaries will drive employees to step up their game. Employees will have a clear path about their future in the company. This will also erase the unfair pay discrepancies; so, no one will get paid more in the same job just because they managed to negotiate a better salary during the interview or vice versa! Remember, that insanely pitiful, absurd, tone-deaf post about salary negotiations? Yeah, we don’t want that again!

What stands in its way?

Sharing your salary with your peers seems simple enough but nothing truly is. One thing you can’t escape is the cultural taboo around salaries. Like I said, it could feel invasive depending on who you’re asking, your personality, and definitely how close you are to that person. So, you can’t just ask your neighbour how much they make because that won’t change your company’s policy and it’s just common decency.

Another cultural hindrance is the evil eye! I don’t care who your peers are, the obsession with blaming “the evil eye” on everything has crossed every social class, education level, and mental capacity! Just open Instagram and you’ll know what I mean!

That’s not all, companies think that if they made salaries public, they could potentially lose prospective candidates to their competitors. However, in a realistic sense, no company could up their pay indefinitely, there’s a cap for everything!

It’s hard to change the old ways, but now that more Gen Zers are entering the workforce, they can create the new old ways and pave the way for an equal future.