What if your salary was no big secret?
HOW PAYCHEQUE TRANSPARENCY PAYS OFF
Mo Hameed started a Tiktok account showcasing everyday Canadians sharing what they do and how much they make just a few months ago. “I wanted to create something for the youth, but also for other people in their careers who want to make sure they're getting paid a fair amount, and just have a page where people can go and be like, `oh, this job is cool, let me look more into this,”' the 24-year-old said.
With more than 62,000 followers and nearly 600,000 likes, the account has taken off. Clearly people want the inside scoop.
As the cost of living continues to rise and pay gaps persist, there is a growing desire for more open discussions around earnings, something money expert Jessica Moorhouse argues can help ensure everyone is being compensated fairly.
While it shouldn't be all up to the workers, she said, there are ways to create and foster a more open culture around salary transparency, through relationship-building, consistent dialogue and not being afraid to ask questions.
“I always found the people who were open to sharing were people of colour and women, because we realize that we're probably the ones being paid less than other people,” Moorhouse said.
In fact, women earn 89 cents for every dollar earned by men as of 2020, according to Statistics Canada.
Rachel Wong is the co-founder of career platform Monday Girl and said salary transparency is a “huge topic” among her members, which consists of mostly Gen-z and millennial women.
Wong launched a social media series featuring Monday Girl members sharing how much they were making at their jobs.
She said the series led to a flood of messages from other members feeling inspired to open up the dialogue about salary expectations and negotiations, as well as managing workloads.
“Some people definitely felt like, `wow,' at what other people were quoting and like `I'm being underpaid,”' she said. “There were some women that were working multiple jobs just to be able to afford rent, and they were able to recognize they were being underpaid in their main job and that they have the ability to make a switch so their lifestyle is more sustainable.”
When it comes to creating that space for greater discussions around earnings at work specifically, Moorhouse said having a specific goal in mind, like getting a raise, for example, is a good place to start.
“`Hey, this is the situation I'm in and I'm thinking of this. What would your suggestion be?' And usually, their answer will have to do with their personal experience, how much they're earning, or how much they know, or what other people are earning. So that's one way instead of saying, `How much are you making?”'
When looking for a new job or starting a career, Moorhouse said people shouldn't be afraid to connect with individuals who inspire them or have a career that interests them.
Social media has opened the door for a broader range of career relationships to start in a way that is unique compared to any time before, she noted.
PEOPLE WHO WERE OPEN TO SHARING (SALARY INFO) WERE PEOPLE OF COLOUR AND WOMEN.
“We're in a very different place today than we were two years ago, or even one year ago,” says Dr. Wafaa Elsadr, professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. “We have a deeper understanding about this virus, how we can manage it better, and we have several vaccines that are increasingly available, which help alleviate concerns about COVID.”
Having a vaccine is, of course, still the safest and smoothest way to see the world. It opens American passports to a potential 190 stamps without any testing complications.
As a result of loosened restrictions, wanderlust has made a roaring comeback. Almost two-thirds of Americans are planning a trip during the next three months, despite sky-high prices and operational turbulence in an industry that continues to grapple with the lingering effects of COVID. For example, international air capacity is nearly 12 per cent below where it was at this time in 2019, according to Official Airline Guides, a global travel data provider, whereas domestic capacity has nearly caught up around the world.
“Countries which are heavily dependent on inbound tourists are seeing a slower rebound,” said Charuta Fadnis, vice-president of research and product strategy at Phocuswright, a travel industry research company, in an email. “For example, many markets in Asia rely heavily on Chinese travellers, and China's restrictions on outbound travel impact the pace of their recovery.”
Phocuswright projects that China's travel market won't return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024. Still, Fadnis said Southeast Asia is “showing a good pace of recovery,” while Japan's reopening would “provide a boost to the region.”
With much of Asia only starting to reopen, vacation-starved tourists have looked elsewhere. “This was really the summer of Europe,” says Josh Geller, a travel adviser at New York-based agency Embark Beyond. “We had endless clients in the South of France and Italy,” and those destinations “are still hot.”
Even as temperatures cool, and travellers would normally seek warm-weather destinations, Geller says clients are still booking European vacations. He predicts that next fall and winter, Asia will overtake Europe as the top destination for jet-setters.
Client bookings have doubled compared to 2019 levels, says Geller. And now that Japan has reopened, he's seeing pent-up demand to visit Asia in general. “Clients will call me saying, `I heard Japan is opening up; what do you think about a trip to Vietnam?'” he says.
Although removing vaccination requirements has taken some of the guesswork out of travel, Casey Hanisko, president of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, cautions that many operators and companies the trade group partners with are still requiring travellers to show proof of vaccination or negative test results to book places to stay or for such activities as guided tours. And the onus, says Hanisko, is now on individuals to travel responsibly.
“Effectively, it's `don't ask, don't tell,'” says Geller, referring to the prospect of tourists travelling with COVID. Clients generally seem to be using judgment, he says, noting that those showing symptoms or testing positive for COVID are rescheduling trips.
With winter on the way, the seasonal character of most respiratory viruses makes it important to be a good human, regardless of official border policies. “This virus is still mutating. It's still a threat,” says Wallace, the Chicago epidemiologist. As reported on Oct. 3, the WHO attributes 9,126 deaths to COVID-19 in the week prior. “It's really hard to put the horse back in the barn.”