SINGAPORE: An employee recently sparked a lively discussion on Reddit by asking a thought-provoking question: “Do you share the details of your salary increments and bonuses with your colleagues?”
He added, “If you shared with your colleagues, were you afraid they received more than you? If you received less, did you regret sharing?”
Surprisingly, many Singaporeans on Reddit admitted to disclosing such private information despite the HR department discouraging or prohibiting employees from doing so.
However, they argued that they did it in “good faith,” claiming that exchanging this information was their way of knowing if they were being “shortchanged.”
They also pointed out that companies only discouraged their employees from talking about “how much increment and bonuses” they received so that they could “broadly underpay” and prevent those who receive lower compensation from uniting to demand better wages.
Moreover, they believed transparency was important because it told them “when it was time to jump ship” and look for another job that would compensate them fairly.
One Redditor stated, “The only winners for keeping your salary a secret are the top earners and your employers.”
Another Redditor shared, “I know a guy who get paid S$300 less than his colleagues, doing absolute same thing, and then he found out on his work contract increment is once every year, and his colleagues that joined later with updated employment contracts, increment is twice a year.
So a renewal of contract in his case is needed. It’s always good to discuss, in case companies have forgotten about you.”
Some said they would only share this information with a few colleagues who they were certain “won’t get envious or resent them.”
These individuals could be close friends, colleagues from different departments, or colleagues open to sharing their own pay.
In contrast, others who are more cautious stated that they prefer not to disclose the raw numbers and only share the “percentage of increment and the number of months for bonuses.”
Some Singaporeans disagree and say this kind of transparency only leads to unhappiness
While many favoured being open about salaries, some Singaporeans felt differently, believing that salary increases and bonuses should be kept confidential.
They argued that sharing this information with coworkers could breed unhappiness, resentment, and jealousy, potentially damaging relationships and workplace dynamics.
One Redditor shared his first-hand experience, writing, “End up everyone is not happy at work because somehow they think they have been shortchanged and you are overpaid. This is especially so if both of you are at the same level/doing same work.
What’s worse? During lunch they will be salty and saying things like “you should treat since your pay is XYZ.” Generally it’s just a pain in butt to deal with.”
Another Redditor echoed this sentiment, saying, “I shared but regretted. Now colleagues that didn’t work so hard and got less are resentful. They put even less effort now. Optics quite important but young people don’t understand this.”
Some also pointed out that they never ask others about their raises or bonuses because they understand that everyone starts with different pay, takes different paths to get their jobs, performs differently, and has their own value.
One Redditor added, “If I wanted to know someone’s pay and increment then I’d need to understand all of these to fully understand why they got what they got. I neither have the time nor interest to understand all of these.
And unless we started at the exact same pay and had the exact same increment doing the exact same work, one of us is almost certainly going to have a tinge of resentment. It serves no purpose.”
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