I've been reading a lot of posts with salaries being compared. I have to say that it is really nice that we want to help each other. When people realize that they are underpaid, even if they were happy until then, they do become unhappy and desire for more whether or not they need it . Doesn't this lead to inflation of salaries, homes etc and competition amongst ourselves? Companies can and will make interviews more difficult, test us against skills which are not directly useful on a daily basis -- for ex: at Facebook, aren't you expected to whiteboard code without a bug the very first time? -- this just requires one to practice 500 leetcodes and mug them up. This is no longer a test of one's ability to solve unsolved problems in the real world. I don't think we have enough planets for everyone's material aspirations. I think that our material aspirations should be curtailed to what we need plus some level of comfort capped at some point. We enjoy luxuries today that no royalty in history ever enjoyed. The unlimited desire for more is inherently human nature -- don't we need to pay attention to it and understand why, and when it would really be settled for good? I know these thoughts are going to attract abusive comments from some, but hey, I'm no priest, I'm really one of you and this can only happen on Blind. Thanks!
Free market right? Employees are resources that enterprise needs to compete for.
And efficient markets need to have good information for all sides
If u dont want a meritocracy, move to NKorea
I really don't want to, nor do I want anyone else to. People should enjoy their lives.
I think we are programmed to always compare ourselves up, instead of down. If we would compare ourselves to those making less more often, we would all feel a little better about our lots in life. If Americans in general quit comparing ourselves to the 1%, and instead to the global population, we would be more grateful. When I was younger i often wondered why "thou shalt not covet" was deemed worthy of being one of the biblical 10 commandments. As I grow older it has become very clear. Covetousness leads to unhappiness, and can destabilize entire societies. We are seeing the fruits of this in American culture.
Disagree. It generally helps people understand their value. Information leads to better outcomes for everyone. Even if Facebook paid somewhat below market (or at market) like Apple does, their popularity means they’d still get a ton of applications and use coding puzzles to filter candidates.
I hear you but at the end of the day everything is dictated by supply & demand. These corporations are not doing any charity. Compensation of Csuite execs can be more 10x of what is it for an avg employee (assuming their avg is 3 million and for others 300,000). So basically prove your worth and ask for the price. Most of us stop after the first part without realizing its upto us to make sure we get paid for wat we are worth. Its a plain supply demand dynamics at play!
I understand. So you're saying if everyone (corporation, execs etc) choose to exercise moderation consciously, then it is ok for one also to do so. Isn't it a deadlock? Breaking it requires people to move their focus from "my worth" to "my real need". :-) isn't 300k good enough, compared to 400k or 700k?
Thats a personal choice.. someone might want to go with “my real need” and someone else might go with “my worth”. Cant say one way is right over other. It is ok not to be ambitious. It is also ok to be ambitious. Since the valley tends to be a magnet for high achievers in tech, maybe people here do come across as money minded. Something your poll suggests.
Prospective employees are low-balled all the time. A company making an offer has an upper hand of more data. How would one even know what's a reasonable offer from a company in a given location and level? So Blind forums are a way to collect more data. As for wanting more, well almost everyone wants more, some more desperately than others. If someone is truly content with his/her current situation then some data on recent salaries shouldn't disturb the state of contentment. Lastly, all money in the world is not constant. So if companies are making more money then what's the harm in accepting more money from them if they are willing to offer?
Completely agree about the low balling.
I think there is a need for better salaries policy. The salary information should be available to everybody and people should be granted more/less based on clear metricks.
Just asking why do employees constantly yearn for more?
Because employers makes 100x than employees.