Do you worry about what others earn?

[stoofa]

Got into a silly argument with somebody last night - before the alcohol started!
Mate told me he recently applied for a job and during the application it asked for "desired salary". I jumped straight in and said that in those situations I always worked out what I'd want to earn, so a salary that I was happy with and then maybe add a little to it, so around 10% and see how the negotiations went.
Also said that it was just a number so that they knew if you were in the right "ballpark" - I myself have applied for jobs and then received a response "We would be unable to offer your desired salary" and that was the end of that.
Mate started telling me he'd have to know what others were on, he would be researching, seeing what averages would be etc.
I said surely it doesn't matter what others earn - just earn a salary you are happy to, something you're happy getting out of bed for....
But apparently I'm leaving myself open to "worry and depression my co-workers are earning more than me...."

So, do you care what others are earning?
Personally, I don't. So long as I'm getting the salary and benefits I want, what somebody else is getting is firstly none of my business but secondly not something I'm worried about.
How do you guys feel?

 

[tom_e]

Same feelings as you as long as I'm happy and feel I'm getting what I'm worth then job done, if the guy next to me managed to negotiate 10k a year more then good on them but it has no effect on my life.

 

[Jokester]

Umm, I would at least want to get the market rate and not under sell myself.

At the very least, you could be seriously losing out on income!

 

[tamzzy]

Umm, I would at least want to get the market rate and not under sell myself.

At the very least, you could be seriously losing out on income!

this.

 

[Daaaavvveee]

this.

I agree, definitely want the market average

 

[x-st]

I work in an environment where I do the same job as two other people. One of them earns around £7000 more than me, and the other around £4000 more than me. Whilst I'd obviously like to earn more and match them, I feel like I'm doing ok for myself and admittedly sometimes use the different as an unspoken excuse not to join in so much with work things (training, extra curricular shindigs, etc...)

I think it's important that people doing similar jobs should earn around the same amount, so in a way it is important to know what others earn so that your peace with yourself isn't being taken advantage of.

 

[chroniclard]

Dont care what others earn, dont even know what colleagues earn.

 

[Randomface74]

I believe people should be paid what they're worth. That depends on their ability.

So I have a problem with people earning more just because they've done it for more years, even if they're not better.

Despite this, similarly-skilled people at my workplace earn a wide range of salaries for essentially the same job. As a manager, I try to fix this, but my boss tells me I have to follow company guidelines for salary reviews. That means I can only make small changes each year, so it'd basically take until retirement to actually fix it. Each year I have to conduct performance results and deliver the news of the new salary - despite not actually believing the salary is fair.

 

[FortuitousFluke]

Never really had to deal with it, I work in an industry where there are defined payscales so the only real factor on pay tends to be length of service (in most cases).

I'd want to be paid what I feel I'm worth though and that would be at or above market rate in most circumstances. I'd probably be a bit peeved if someone in the same role was earning a lot more than me but it would depend on the circumstances.

One thing I will say is I judge myself on my peer group, I wouldn't say I'm jealous of their circumstances but I do feel a bit depressed when I feel I'm lagging behind them, as was the situation a few years back.

 

[toshj]

I've always worked in commission-based environments, so everyone knows what each member of staff is roughly making and it's based largely on performance. Creates little room for jealousy or politics, because if someone earns more than they've likely deserved it.

With other non-commission roles, it's clearly much more difficult to define success or place a revenue (or non-revenue) value on an employee's contribution.

 

[ttaskmaster]

Depends what the difference is.
My job is quite specialised, but there are others doing something similar. If they're earning 20k more for doing the same thing, I damn well want to know why!!!!!

 

[DomBruv]

I got a pay rise last week without asking for it so I'm happy

 

[panthro]

If you're in a salaried position and your position is graded, you'd assume you're being paid the same or similar to peers. However, I tend to review the salary guides for my industry every year to make sure I'm in the ball park, and it doesn't hurt to browse the job sites once in a while to see what you can earn elsewhere.

 

[Kenai]

You need to care to an extent, there's no benefit going to a job that's paying everyone £30,000 routinely and pitching £25,000 just because you only earn £20,000 and you'd be happy with that, you're missing out on a potential £5,000 for no reason.

It wouldn't depress me or fill me with worry to find out someone was earning more than me though on a personal level, that's the wrong reason to care as that just seems like someone more concerned if their neighbour has a better car or bigger conservatory and that's not a healthy way to live.

 

[TacticalFish]

If I was doing the exact same job as someone and they were getting paid more without an apparent reason, I'd probably want to know why, however I wouldn't be jealous, just annoyed at the inequality.

Outside of that scenario, don't care at all. Happy with what I get paid, certainly don't earn it

 

[HangTime]

For me it is a bit of both in terms of what I might apply for.
Firstly, I want to know what the market rate is for that type of position, and ideally what people in that organisation are getting paid. This then helps drive my desired rate but not exclusively, as it would also need to be a level I felt comfortable with, for the given work and other conditions.

In terms of worrying about it once I’m in a job, yes I do worry about it. It’s traditionally been a demotivator for me and was the main reason I left my previous employer, because others with the same job title were earning over £20k more than me, without delivering massively more value to the business. I left for a company that was prepared to recompense me more appropriately.

 

[crinkleshoes]

UK salaries suck... so I already know I'm being paid less than I'm worth.

I prefer the Swiss system... it makes much more sense and is obviously affordable, otherwise the country would have bankrupted itself.

 

[XeNoN89]

I don't worry about it but did find it irritating when I found out somebody who started the exact same day as me doing the exact same job was earning 5k more

 

[Rroff]

I prefer the Swiss system... it makes much more sense and is obviously affordable, otherwise the country would have bankrupted itself.

What is affordable for one country isn't necessarily for another - I don't know much about the Swiss other than they have a very different setup with taxes, etc. but for instance some countries have a very different ratio of types of industry or potential income from natural resources versus their population size to what we do which can make a huge difference in terms of what kind of society and job income, etc. is possible.

 

[crinkleshoes]

What is affordable for one country isn't necessarily for another - I don't know much about the Swiss other than they have a very different setup with taxes, etc. but for instance some countries have a very different ratio of types of industry or potential income from natural resources versus their population size to what we do which can make a huge difference in terms of what kind of society and job income, etc. is possible.

So you don't understand the Swiss system... that's fine... doesn't mean it isn't achievable in the UK.

It is... it's just out structure rewards hoarders and penalises workers.

It's as simple as capping the wages of the highest earners in a company in relation to it's lowest earners... that raises the wages of the lowest earners so that the highest earners can earn more and dramatically increases that taxes gains from general employment, even at a lower tax rate.

It also helps that the Swiss don't invade other countries for no good reason at their cost and murder the populous... like we do... being the world terrorist at partnering with the USA in that murderous venture is a significant expense... especially when you consider the propaganda that has to be fed to the general populous.