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Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

open.bufferapp.com

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Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#21

Post by untog »

ra3 wrote: post #9

Can't say a lot of good things about a company that pays a "Chief Happiness Officer" more than most of its engineers. I know plenty of startups that seem to be doing alright in the customer service department without an overpaid exec heading it. Does she really contribute more to the bottom line than any of the other 4 underpaid engineers?

A Chief Anything Officer should probably be paid more than engineers, or they shouldn't have the words Chief and Officer in their title.

And that seems like a very developer-centric viewpoint. Yes, good customer service can add a lot to a company's bottom line. Some companies have huge engineering issues and need engineers to solve them. Some companies have huge sales issues and need sales people to solve them. Some companies have huge customer service issues and need customer service agents to solve them.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#23

Post by delluminatus »

Raphmedia wrote: post #10
iampims wrote: post #2

It’s one thing to have a transparent salary policy, it’s a whole another world to publicly blog about people’s salary with a link to their Twitter account. I hope all employees agreed to have their salary published on the buffer blog. Kudos to them for trying something different.

I never understood the hypocrisy about hiding your salary.

In general, it's seen as bragging if your salary is high, and mortifying if your salary is low, so it's usually just better to keep your mouth shut about it.

I've told a number of people my salary and regretted it every time. They seem to take a vicarious pleasure in telling other people how much money I make. "Oh, you should listen to delluminatus, he makes $xx thousand a year." Ugh.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#24

Post by 7Figures2Commas »

carsongross wrote: post #7

I like this idea, but with a few modifications: * Names should be anonymous. Everyone knows where they are within the group and can determine if its fair without knowing exactly who makes what. * It should include options and bonuses. In some companies non-salary compensation dwarfs salaries, and it's dishonest to point to a CEO salary and say "Look, he only makes 1.something X what regular people do." * Keep it inte…

> The vast majority of compensation in software companies is tied up in options...

That's absolutely not true. Most companies never have a liquidity event, a significant number of stock options never vest (employees leaving before they're fully vested is very, very common at startups) and even when a company delivers an exit, the vast majority of employees with equity will, at best, walk away with what amounts to a modest "bonus." Facebook and Twitter-like outcomes in which hundreds of rank-and-file employees become millionaires are the exception, not the rule.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#26

Post by jonlucc »

wmeredith wrote: post #5
mberning wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I think it would have been more than enough to simply explain the formula and provide some anonymized examples. On another note, I am quite surprised at how underpaid some of their positions seem. Senior iOS engineer barely cracking 100k in a very expensive market...

Yeah, that's pretty ballsy. Seems like they're exposing themselves to unnecessary poaching risk. And what do they do in that situation? What if someone has a competing offer and they want to keep them around? Offer a bonus?

It seems like they're ok with the poaching risk. I would assume most of their employees are happy enough, or they'd leave. I'm not sure having the salary posted is a big change from that perspective.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#27

Post by walshemj »

carsongross wrote: post #7

I like this idea, but with a few modifications: * Names should be anonymous. Everyone knows where they are within the group and can determine if its fair without knowing exactly who makes what. * It should include options and bonuses. In some companies non-salary compensation dwarfs salaries, and it's dishonest to point to a CEO salary and say "Look, he only makes 1.something X what regular people do." * Keep it inte…

And what equity do you get for giving up 10k - Whats the cap table look like

I know that one FTSE 100 co's basic share option scheme is going to turn out >£60k tax free next year (its a 5 year scheme so say 10k pa) so it had better beat that.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#28

Post by thatthatis »

dsugarman wrote: post #18

I have a feeling you will regret this soon. There are certain benefits in having a firm salary structure sponsored by a transparent system, but the loss of flexibility will hurt in ways you haven't experienced. Also, letting everyone know what their peers make can cause disgruntled employees.

I've worked under open salary formulas and closed salary formulas. I'd rather work under an open salary formula any day.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#29

Post by JonFish85 »

Let's say I'm a competitor, and I find that Niel (randomly picked) is someone I want to hire. All else being equal, I offer him $100k (website says he's making $88k). He comes to his boss to say "I like it here, can you match it?"

What does his boss do? Especially, if he's valuable to the company...

What if I have a very specialized skill that doesn't fit nicely into your matrix? Let's say market pay for my skill is $200k. Do you create a new category for me? Do I get dirty looks from all of my co-workers because I have a valuable skillset that most people don't?

I'd hate it, as an employee, as a boss or as an investor. But that could just be me.

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