[tryingtogetback]

Can pay transparency potentially limit/discourage horizontal mobility for workers as a second order effect?

As in "there is no point to explore other domains/companies in my industry since my compensation will not change for my seniority level even though I understand that the value I deliver for society might increase exponentially"

Can pay transparency level up the field by removing the incentive for hyper-productive outliers, pulling wages down, as a second order effect?

As in "I'm sorry Jane, we appreciate that you've been working 80 hour weeks and is solely responsible for the success of this project but 20 other engineers in our team who have the same seniority level as you are making $N and we can not pay you a dollar more (otherwise they would have to give the same raise to other 20 engineers to make it look fair). Promotion is another option, you are on track but it will take a year or two"

Is it possible that push for pay transparency is just pandering to the lowest common denominator where best and brightest are left behind?

[antasvara]

Does pay transparency necessarily mean that someone can't get a raise? In this theoretical scenario, Jane would know exactly how much she's being paid in comparison to the other engineers. If she's performing better than them while getting paid the same, she would know that she's worth more.

The scenario you've described seems to imply that the company doesn't already know everyone's salaries. Pay transparency isn't what kept the company from giving her a raise; in fact, without pay transparency they could have told her that she was making more than her coworkers.

Point being that companies can already refuse to give a raise by saying some boilerplate like "you're being competitively compensated for an employee of your seniority, and unfortunately we can't give you a raise."

[seieste]

> If she's performing better than them while getting paid the same, she would know that she's worth more

This is another area where pay transparency can complicate things. Jane may have the same experience and education as other employees, but much higher performance and work ethic. Unfortunately, this isn’t easily quantified, whereas the other characteristics are, which can create resentment among her peers who don’t see the other value that she’s providing.