I Know How Much Your Earned Last Summer

"Show me yours and I'll show you mine." That's a popular stance amongst Gen X and Gen Y in today's workforce when it comes to revealing salary. Boomers, however, tend to keep their salaries shrouded in secrecy. Regardless of the year you were born, this Website, which reveals the salaries of almost EVERY New York State worker, is the subject of heated debate at Jobacle HQ.

The goal of SeeThroughNY, the site which is taking salary reveals to a whole new level, is to give "New Yorkers a clearer view of how their state and local tax dollars are spent." Simply select the branch of government, enter the agency/area in which they work and punch in their full name (you will need to get the exact spelling that appears on their payroll).

Voila. You will be presented with '07 and '08 payroll data. And it's accurate...to the penny.

I just spent the last hour looking up the salaries of almost everyone I know. The database is comprised of over 263,000 employees.

On one hand, I understand why this information is made public. As tax paying citizens, it is only fair that we know where our money is being spent, and that includes personnel. But should salaries be exposed for New York workers at all levels? It's one thing to know what the mayor or police commissioner earns, it's another thing entirely when it's your next door neighbor who is holding down a clerical gig.

Students can search their teachers. Criminals can search their arresting officer.  From the United Nations to toll collectors, if you're interested in what civil servants around New York state are earning - get searching!

Do you feel this is an invasion of privacy? How would you feel if YOUR salary was made public. I for one, would not be thrilled. But then again, I'm not enjoying a fat pension plan compliments of the local municipality.

The movement towards salary transparency is gaining steam. Look for the site to add more salaries soon.

Comments

[Arthur]

This has got to be one of the more dastardly deeds I have seen in quite some time. Do the owners of the site revel their salaries? "What's good for the goose is good for the gander!"

[Dave Banks]

Websites of this nature are growing in popularity. The question to ask yourself is after you find out the information, what do you do with it? Aside from be jealous or resentful, finding out the income of others is really nothing more than an illusion of control. I stay away from these sites and encourage you to do the same.

[Claire Walters]

what is the point of being vague about your salary? if everyone was more forthcoming on the issue, we would have a more level playing field. i earn $61k a year and am unafraid to shout from the rooftop or share the number with anyone who asks.

[Keonne]

Government Employees salaries should be made 100% public. If you work for the state then you work for the tax payer (supposedly). Janitor or Commissioner, responsible tax paying citizens have a right to know how much their government is paying it's employees.

If the janitors in the state of Florida made the same money as the Janitors in California (some were making around 70k!!!!!!) I want to know about it, as should you.

@Arthur - The owners of that site run a private business and are under no obligation to reveal their salary. The employees of the State however have no privacy in regards to their salary. If they have a problem with that they should quit and get a job in the private sector.

[Ben Eubanks]

Claire, if you're so pumped about revealing information, we'll take your employer's name and the city/state you work in, too. If you choose not to reveal that information, then maybe you should hop off the high horse for this discussion.

Keonne, that's an interesting point. I'm against pay transparency (for reasons mentioned by Dave above), but maybe it's not such an issue if the employee is a public one. Great addition to the discussion.

[Indian Jobs & Careers]

Well these kind of websites get very popular suddenly but I don't think that there is any harm in revealing this data.