Salary Reviews and human behaviour

We recently had a salary review at work. Or what the company prefer to call it, "Performance Reviews".

Nothing wrong with this term however, this is an excuse so the company do not have to give the employees a raise. i.e. They will simply say "We never told you we were reviewing your salary!"
Since the economic forecast does not look very good, the company is a bit tight on giving pay rises (in addition to cutting down on budgets). Some people got their raise though but you can never expect much from an annual pay rise. What is a good annual pay rise? I believe companies should at least increase pay equal to the economic inflation to cover extra costs like petrol price increases, parking, food, etc. On top of that will be the performance reward. Inflation this year is about 4% so the minimum pay rise should be 6%-8%.

Anyway, one annoying thing also happens during thess periods - People at work asking whether you got a pay rise or how much you earn. It is as simple as answering yes or no for the first question but you can see it in their eyes that they are wanting to know more by the look in their eyes and their weird grin. Some people will have no issues disclosing their salary to you but to most, like myself, it is a topic I do not find easy (or more accurately do not wish) to discuss and I'll tell you why...

First of all I am curious to know what other people get paid but I do not and have never, ever, gone and ask a person how much their salary is. Two main reasons: first one is that I do not intend of disclosing mine and it will not be fair if I ask and not share. Second, sharing this information at work will have the potential to put you, and/or your manager, in an awkward situation. Whoever finds out may go and use this knowledge as a negotiating tool and hold your manager at ransom.

Occasionally we, the kuyas, talk about pay in our email chats. The discussion does not go anywhere really. No one will disclose figures and it is really no one's business even if we are all close friends. I suppose it is slightly different with friends but it is still an issue of privacy. It is always a silly thing we play teasing each other who earns more... but you can somewhat tell anyway (and this is a slightly different topic)

Either close friend or colleague, we all wonder how much another person gets paid. We are simply very curious. If we do find out, we will probably think of one of two things: The pay is too low for that person or that person is earning way too much for not doing anything....that $%&^$%& bastard!

I do would like to point out that there is nothing wrong if you happen to find out by accident. :) Or if someone found out and tells you.
Anyway, so now that you know how much other people earn. What now? What do you do with this information? Are you happier? Does it affect you?

The answer to these questions will depend on whether you respect that individual and his job and whether you accept the situation. For example, there is this guy at work, who shall remain nameless, and he is said to be the highest paid sub editor in the company. I do not know if this is true but if it is then it is unacceptable because for one thing he is only responsible for one magazine. Half the time he watches youtube, read news, and play card games. There are others in the company whose time is split between 2-3 different departments and earn less. How unfair is that?

Here's another situation, let's say you know how much the other person earns but he does not have the exact responsibilities as you do. So you cannot and should not compare your pay to theirs. You are in a different skill area.

Regardless of all of these, there is one thing I think we can all agree on. You can never earn enough. Sad but true.