Brits keep it buttoned when it comes to salary chit-chat

British employees are less likely to talk about their salary with colleagues than their European counterparts. This is the main finding from a survey across nine European countries by online recruitment specialist StepStone.

Amongst the British respondents, 42 per cent say they would never discuss their earnings with colleagues, and only 17 per cent ñ the lowest percentage from all countries surveyed - say they make no secret of it at all.

ìIt comes as no surprise to see cultural differences in how we discuss money socially, but itís interesting to see the stereotype of the buttoned-up Brit prove true,î said John Spiers, chief marketing officer at StepStone.

It seems as though salary discussions make people uncomfortable and are still rather taboo. The advice for employees must be to be very careful who they talk to.î

Attitudes in Germany are similar to those in the UK, with 43 per cent preferring to keep quiet about their salary, and only 21 per cent prepared to be completely open.

However, the French are more laissez-faire about the pay issue: only 22 per cent of French respondents feel that discretion is the best policy and a third are happy to be completely open about how much they earn.

Norwegians are the least reticent, with 39 per cent happy to openly divulge their salary, followed by the Dutch (37 per cent), the Italians (35 per
cent) and the French (33 per cent).

Two out of five British employees would divulge their salary to colleagues with whom they are very close, compared to almost half of the Swedes (48 per cent).

ìToday, employees have many ways of checking and comparing their worth by looking at jobs posted on company career sites and job boards without having to take the risk of chatting to their colleagues,î added Mr Spiers.

The survey was conducted online and covered almost 4,000 respondents in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.