Why are youngsters revealing their salaries online?

The trend began by videos of a TikToker Hannah Williams in which she asks people, “How much do you make?”

A lot of people are uncomfortable discussing their salaries in public. However, a latest campaign gaining traction on social media is witnessing netizens determined to break this social prohibition as they post their salaries online. Younger netizens are pressing for salary transparency by sharing their salaries with others publicly through viral tweets, memes, and TikTok accounts.

There is no legislation binding employees to discuss their salaries. (Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash)

The trend began by videos of a TikToker Hannah Williams in which she asks people, “How much do you make?” Williams began creating the videos once she realized being paid less than her colleagues. She then began discussing her salary on TikTok, which soon got famous among her followers who subsequently joined, admiring her openness about the wage, reports Hinsustan Times business website Mint.

The taboo behind discussing salary

Although there is no legislation binding employees to discuss their salaries, it’s a common practice in our country to discourage any such talk. Many firms detest, while some even get it written in their policy, prohibiting the employees to disclose their salaries.

But on the other hand, there is hardly any company where the recruiter does not decide the wage based on the previous company’s salary. The HR department negotiates remuneration depending on what a prospective employee used to get in his/her earlier employment.

The report points out India trails at 135th rank out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2022. It also adds that disclosing income may help to reduce the disparity. By citing a LinkedIn Market Research, it shows over 80% of Gen Z considers income sharing will strengthen wage equality.