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The Bottom Line, The Bottom Line, Pay: What If You Knew What Your Colleagues Earned?

The Bottom Line

The Bottom Line

Pay: What If You Knew What Your Colleagues Earned?

June 12, 2025

29 minutes

Available for over a year

Discussing pay is one of society’s big taboos - it’s just not the done thing to ask other people what they earn. And it can be even more hush-hush in the workplace - we’re not told to keep quiet, but somehow everyone does. And yet, most of us would love to know what our colleagues earn.

So would lifting the lid on salaries trigger resentment and frustration, or be a tool for fairness and ability? Evan Davis explores the pros and cons of pay transparency — from closing gender pay gaps to boosting retention – and speaks to one boss who’s tried a radical approach.

Is it the next frontier in corporate ability, or does the culture of secrecy still serve a purpose?

Evan is ed by:

Bob Leung, CEO, Grant Tree;

Justine Woolf, Director of Consulting, Innecto;

Clare Kelliher, Professor of Work and Organisation, Cranfield University School of Management.

Production team:

Producer: Osman Iqbal

Editor: Matt Willis

Sound: Neil Churchill and Pete Wise

Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison