Do you identify as ‘salary curious’? By which I mean, are you curious about what your work colleagues earn? Or those who in your age range? Perhaps you’re simply a believer in salary transparency. If so, the latest ‘salary by age’ statistics published by Forbes will be of interest to you.
There was a time in my working life when I was very curious about the salary of others. Not just in a general sense, though. I wanted to know the specific salaries of my colleagues. I wasn’t really a sticky beak. (Okay, maybe I was a little bit of one.) I was more interested in knowing whether I was valued as highly by my employer as my colleagues.
Such things were rarely discussed in my early days as an employee, in the late 1980s and early ’90s. And such discussions were certainly not encouraged by management. Understandably so, too. Any revelations of a discrepancy would likely lead to employee disgruntlement and potential complaints.
In pursuit of salary transparency
But curiosity got the better of me at one point. My curiosity didn’t kill any cats, but it did kill time that would probably have been better spent on other things. That’s certainly what my employer would have said had they ever found out what I had done in pursuit of salary transparency.
What did I do in that pursuit? Well let me say up front that I did not at any stage actively pursue access to these ‘trade secrets’. But one afternoon I was presented with an opportunity to peruse some ‘classified information’.
I was conveniently seated next to my department’s communal printer and on this particular day noticed my boss collecting some documents from said printer. After examining those documents at some length, he proceeded to tear them up and discard them via the wastepaper basket.
There was by no means anything unusual about that practice. Except on this occasion, I noticed the boss going the ‘extra distance’ with his tearing-up routine. Rather than being halved or quartered in size, these sheets of paper were reduced to virtual confetti before being dumped.
“That must be some pretty sensitive information,” I concluded. “Maybe it’s salary figures.” As a champion of salary transparency (aka a sticky beak), I decided to take up the challenge. I collected the boss’s ‘confetti’, curious to know if my salary ‘married up’ with those of my peers.
I can’t remember if I took those shreds home or somewhere else private, but using my vast jigsaw puzzle experience and probably several rolls of transparent tape, I recreated the originally document. It was indeed staff salary data. The boss’s secret dossier had been exposed!
What was the point?
Looking back on what was a pretty childish – and certainly immoral – act, I can’t believe I actually went to such lengths. I think my justification at the time had been rumours of a particular colleague, viewed by some of us as our inferior, being paid way more than we were.
I cannot even remember if our suspicions were confirmed or denied. Yet more than three decades on, many of us, even as we move towards or live in retirement, are still salary curious.
The argument surrounding salary transparency still rages today – in some industries more than others. Kane Cornes, a former Port Adelaide AFL premiership player and now football commentator, is a strong advocate for salary transparency. At least in footy. He argues that, as fans are the ones ultimately paying the players, they should know who’s getting what.
The argument probably has some validity, but that validity does not necessarily translate to all industries.
However, thanks to Forbes magazine, we can have our salary curiosity at least partially clarified. The online finance magazine has analysed ABS data and produced a report revealing Australian salaries by age group.
Where do you fit?
Among those heading towards or on the cusp of retirement (aged 45-54), most are doing pretty well. The most common weekly income is $500-$999, with 20.8 per cent of Australians in that bracket. Some 19.5 per cent were being paid $1000 to $1499, and 14.5 per cent $1500 to $1999. A lucky 16.6 per cent were in the $2000 to $2999 bracket.
How does that compare with workers two decades younger? In the 25 to 34 age bracket, there were more (26 per cent) earning $500-$999. And there are quite a few more (26.2 per cent) in the $1000-$1499 bracket.
The $1500-$1999 figures were similar (16.3 per cent versus 14.5 in the older age bracket) but the ‘oldies’ came out ahead in the $2000-$2999 range. Only 10.9 per cent of 45 to 54-year-olds were in that range.
If the pursuit of salary transparency is your aim, the Forbes report can help you achieve it to at least some degree.
But does salary transparency really matter?
Me, I’m older than I was when I embarked on my covert ‘salary transparency’ crusade of exposing my peers’ earnings. Whether I’m any wiser is debatable, but I’m certainly more philosophical.
If my peers are earning more than me, good on them. They may well have some luxuries I wish I had. But a salary that keeps me happy and healthy is usually enough to keep me content these days.
Salary transparency might be nice, but salary adequacy will do me for now.
Do you or did you ever wonder how your salary stacks up against your peers? Is it important to you? Let us know via the comments section below.
Also read: Wages increases not to blame for inflation – report
