Why This Social Media Startup Made All of its Salaries Public

At most companies, employee salaries are shrouded in mystery—but not at Buffer. The social media company makes the wages of all of its employees public, Fast Company reports.

Buffer enacted its transparency policy in an effort to promote honesty, reduce the stress of salary negotiations, and ensure that the motivations behind salary differences were clear. And not only can employees see each other’s salaries, but members of the public can see how much individual Buffer employees are making as well.

The company even published a “transparent salary formula” that allows anyone to see how each employee’s salary was calculated. That lets Buffer employees understand their own incomes and identify when it’s time for a raise. It also lets members of the public take a peek behind the scenes at how Buffer is run.

The formula, which can be viewed on the Buffer website, starts with base salaries for different job titles, but factors in experience, loyalty, and even cost of living in each employee’s location. There's also a free automatic salary calculator online, which allows potential employees to figure out how much they’d make if they were on staff.

Buffer claims it wants to encourage other startups to follow their lead. “We were so blown away by how many startups have adopted our salary formula, and we want to keep making it simple for anyone to make use of our latest data,” the website explains. “On top of that, we’re of course excited to make great use of the calculator internally as we bring new people on board and give them fair and accurate salaries they can easily understand.”

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