No matter their age or race, a third of workers don't believe that employees in their company are paid fairly. In fact, 34 percent say they believe their pay is based on managers' or supervisors' “feelings” on what they deserve to make, instead of being based on performance, experience, or skills.

That's according to a study from beqom that also finds 48 percent of workers believing that men are paid more than women at their company. At the industry level, U.S. workers believe men are paid more than women in technology (34 percent), banking and finance (23 percent), health care and medical (13 percent), and education and higher education (5 percent)—regardless of skill, performance, and experience.

So, not surprisingly, the study finds that workers want—and are creating—pay transparency, with 45 percent admitting they know what their colleagues make and 46 percent admitting that they've talked about their salary with colleagues. Still, old habits die hard; younger workers are more likely to talk salary with co-workers than are older staff, with 56 percent of millennials saying they'd share their salary details with colleagues compared with just 27 percent of baby boomers. Awkward as those money conversations might be, 66 percent of workers would tell colleagues their salary than discuss their sex life (20 percent).

Workers aren't happy with CEO pay, either. Seventy-eight percent of survey respondents said most CEOs and other top execs make too much compared with employees, and 60 percent want to know just how much those salaries amount to. While 28 percent say that latter desire is in the name of transparency, 21 percent said it would serve as motivation, and 11 percent say it's because they want to know just how wide that pay gap is.

All that said, employees don't want to talk about these issues with their managers. Only 19 percent said they'd be comfortable discussing their salary with their manager or supervisor, and 20 percent said they wouldn't ask for a raise even if they knew a colleague with comparable skills and experience was making more than they were.

In addition, although 54 percent don't plan on asking for a raise or additional benefits before the end of the year, that doesn't mean they don't want more money. Twenty-nine percent are planning to jump ship within the year because they're not happy with their compensation.

What else is influencing salary perceptions?

From: BenefitsPro

Instant Insights /

What Employees Really Think About Their Compensation

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