Social media is altering the way employee salaries are negotiated and changed. It used to be that how much you were paid at your job was something you never talked about, especially with others outside your family and maybe your friends. However, a number of websites now allow employees to anonymously post their annual pay and provide an overview of salary ranges for various jobs at a given organization. Other websites collect pay data from market surveys and publish it online.⁶³ This "social media-driven salary information" has shifted the balance of power in pay discussions.⁶⁴ Although employers often may ask for salary histories of job applicants and desired salary, now job applicants and even current employees can be prepared with at least some salary information. Even if the data may not be totally accurate, individuals feel empowered to talk about what their expectations are about fair pay.

Full pay transparency... the Good, the Bad, and the Reality

Recent surveys show that Millennials aren't as apprehensive about sharing information about their pay with their coworkers as older workers are. Nearly half say that they would or do discuss pay with friends. Yet only 36 percent of Americans overall feel comfortable talking about their compensation with others.⁶⁵ This attitude shift is forcing some employers to take a close look at their overall compensation and promotion system.

Although proponents of full pay transparency point out the benefits of sharing this information.

2-24 Is salary transparency a good thing? Explain your position.

2-25 Using Exhibit 2-4, in which dimension(s) of organizational culture do you believe pay transparency would fall? Explain.

2-26 Will this trend toward salary openness affect how managers manage? If so, how? If not, why not?

2-27 Has social media's role in pay transparency been a good thing or a negative thing? Discuss.