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Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

open.bufferapp.com

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Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#111

Post by kenrikm »

DominikR wrote: post #70
JonFish85 wrote: post #29

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…

> 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? This happens all the time anyways, hiding the salary of the employee isn't going to make any difference in most cases. And is it so hard to guess what some (say iOS engineer) earns? The sa…

Why is a Senior iOS engineer (Andy) on a "Intermediate: 1.1X" multiplier? - you can't be Senior and be intermediate in my book. Seems he needs his multiplier upped to the proper level. $107k is low for a iOS Dev in the Bay Area.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#113

Post by tarr11 »

swombat wrote: post #65
bjpless wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seconded. Hard to imagine all employees signing off on this release for the sake of a HN article. But I hope that they did. I would be very upset if my salary were published unbeknownst to me.

You would only be upset because you currently work in a company with a culture that doesn't value transparency as a core value. If you worked in a company like Buffer or GrantTree, you'd be wondering why others are so secretive about their salaries, and find yourself more and more disliking the idea of working for a company which is not transparent. Habit is a powerful thing. Change your surroundings and you'll chang…

Perhaps you've got this backwards? People who are attracted to transparency go to companies like Buffer.

It's perfectly legitimate for people not to want to share their salaries on a public website.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#114

Post by haversine »

suprgeek wrote: post #55

Excellent concept - but one major Caveat. Why in the world would you publish it for all the world to see? Keep it internal to the company - you have an expectation of privacy from your employer and this post just ruined it completely. I hope they got written signed releases from every one of those folks whose private info they broadcast to the world.

Agreed. I think this should have been anonymized outside of Buffer.

There are so many possibly repercussions with family, friends, and outsiders, in addition to the things brought up by other posters re: poaching, etc.

I personally wouldn't want my salary revealed publicly because my family would treat me differently as a result (I know this from experience).

If this idea spreads, it wouldn't be long before someone comes up with a way to API this data into something like LinkedIN or Monster. "Joe makes $100k at CompanyX - is it time for a change?"

Internally to the business though, this seems to have a lot of positives. I'll be interested to see how this evolves at Buffer.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#115

Post by angrybits »

DominikR wrote: post #70
JonFish85 wrote: post #29

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…

> 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? This happens all the time anyways, hiding the salary of the employee isn't going to make any difference in most cases. And is it so hard to guess what some (say iOS engineer) earns? The sa…

With closed salaries, you don't have to justify anything to your employees. They are called employees for a reason.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#116

Post by angrybits »

rcoder wrote: post #68
JonFish85 wrote: post #29

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…

Three things: First, most recruiters/hiring managers ask for current comp (or at least a salary range) early in the discussion, so it should be easy for them to offer well over someone's current pay. This simply removes one bargaining tools (lying about current comp) for an employee considering a move elsewhere. Second, matching outside offers very quickly becomes a slippery slope. Anyone who figures out that such a…

I don't disclose current comp unless/until it benefits me in the negotiations.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#117

Post by walshemj »

Raphmedia wrote: post #110
walshemj wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies (especially large ones) don't like it as it limits their negotiation position it can also disclose indirect discrimination e.g. "oops all the females seem to be under paid by 10/20%" which can get expensive. And it also limits employees when they want to move as the new employer knows how much they make now.

Yes, I understand why companies do it. They don't want people to know when they are under/overpaid. What I don't understand is why people don't talk about it. If you tell and you learn you are overpaid then you feel good. If you learn you are underpaid, well, time to go negotiate/look elsewhere. Do people think they ARE their salary? It's simply money that some people arbitrary decided to pay you...

Well employees are funny about money in general any HR professional will tell you that :-)

Having a potential employer know exactly what you where paid before puts you at a big disadvantage when it comes to negotiating a new salary /package.

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#118

Post by sliverstorm »

DominikR wrote: post #70
JonFish85 wrote: post #29

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…

> 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? This happens all the time anyways, hiding the salary of the employee isn't going to make any difference in most cases. And is it so hard to guess what some (say iOS engineer) earns? The sa…

Of course on the other hand it could mean your salary haunts you during future interviews and at future jobs. Salary Negotiation 101 is, don't tell them what your old salary was, right? But now the cards are all on the table, and they'll try to say "Well, I see you made $X, we'll beat that by 4%"

Re: Introducing Open Salaries at Buffer

#120

Post by mikegreen »

Euro_IT_drone wrote: post #46

Just trying to compare here with my European salary.. How much of this do you get to take home, ie. what part of it can you spend on food, clothing, housing etc. after takes? What about health insurance, is it provided for?

Roughly - Expect someone making $100k in the SFO area (high state and taxes compared to many parts of the country) to pay about 20-25% in a few federal taxes, and 8-10% in state taxes. So the take home pay would be around $65k-$72k, before any retirement contributions etc.

In the US, healthcare is provided in a professional/fulltime position like these (maybe not the bootcampers). Figure $150-300 a month for healthcare if contractor or not-provided.

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