2.0somethings

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Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Talking cash with your crew

Posted by Jeff in , ,

The New York Times latest article in their “Young Folks: What’s the Deal?” series profiles the growing trend of friends discussing salaries openly - “the last taboo in American life,” writes Alex Williams. There are a few theories bandied about as to why this is, including the existence of a “bunker mentality” among the debt-saddled. Then there’s the strategic angle, described by Salary.com’s Bill Coleman:

This is a generation that is much more attuned to teamwork, collaboration and sharing information [...] Everything they do is a kind of group event. How do you know, when you get your first job offer, if $45,000 is a good offer, a bad offer or an O.K. offer? You go to your friends.

As a 2.0something a week away from becoming a college graduate, I can attest to the truth here. As myself and my friends have been lucky enough to get job offers, we’ve openly shared the information so that the others can get a feeling for what they’re getting into - and, sure, to crow a little as well.

Of course, all of this pales in comparison to Italy, where last week an outgoing government official took it upon himself to post Italians’ tax returns online. All of them. Furor swelled, but maybe we’d all be better off with a little more transparency.

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