BTR:

 

Long story short my employer is reviewing my departments salaries at our request. They have said they would approach other businesses in the sector to get an idea of what others are paying their staff.

 

 

 

Now one of my staff went and did the same thing using their contacts but I have been told they shouldn't have done that and left it up to management "as it makes things more difficult now"

 

 

 

Is it just me of does this sound like a complete load of rubbish? What is wrong with people doing their own research into salaries provided they are doing it professionally using contacts they have in the same field?

 

Checking salaries elsewhere in the sector can just result in being bidded down. Best way to "check" is to actually get a higher-paying job....and leave. That's the only sort of salary benchmark most employers have any respect for. If you *can't* get a better salary anywhere else.....you're doing as well as you can right now.....

IT wages have been flatlined for 20 years since mainframes were replaced by smaller, cheaper systems (and self-maintaining packages) and networks enabled outsourcing....and immigration enabled cheap, temporary labour.

Market forces are never allowed to operate at the macro level if it means wages go up. The government - especially National - always change the rules so wages stay flat and there is a ready pool of people looking for work to keep wages down.

That's how it's been since the early 80s. I'm always surprised when people impacted directly by it vote for them. "D'oh!"