People avoid talking about salaries, Faroese report says

People in the Faroe Islands discuss many subjects with friends and acquaintances, but rarely talk about what appears on their payslips, Kringvarp Føroya reports.

A few years ago, Cecilia Nolsøe Sørensen saw it as a problem that people did not openly discuss their personal finances. She created an anonymous Instagram page called “Financial Freedom”, where she shared financial issues and questions. The page soon attracted many followers.

“Many people wrote to me privately and asked how they should proceed in practice,” Sørensen said, adding that very few commented publicly on the posts.

Mary Antonsdóttir, chairwoman of the Faroese Health Assistants’ Association, has a salary that is more public than most people’s. Her pay is discussed at every annual general meeting, which she says is necessary but uncomfortable.

“When that item comes up on the agenda, I feel like crawling under the table, because it is so embarrassing to sit there and be judged on how much I am worth in kroner and øre,” Antonsdóttir said.

She said she would not feel the need to hide if people spoke openly about such matters.

Greater transparency in pay levels would benefit society, Antonsdóttir said, because it would make salary differences visible and allow people to ask why they exist. It would also make salary negotiations easier if everyone knew what others were earning, she added.