Thanks to the remnants of the Soviet system, pay rates in Russia are notoriously out of whack with the demands of the job. Open-heart surgeons may bring home barely enough money to feed their families, while secretaries are buying new flats and cars. A general director in one company may earn less than a driver in another.

Pay in Russia isn’t determined solely by an employee’s qualifications and responsibilities; it is a function of the company he or she works for, the market demand for a particular role, even the employee’s relationship with the boss. Welcome to the modern world with a Russian twist: salaries don’t make sense and they aren’t always fair.

A lot of people have a hard time, emotionally, with this inconsistency because it is a relatively new phenomenon. In Soviet times, everyone got paid the same for a role and everyone knew what everyone else was getting paid. Soviet-style pay scales and mentalities are still hanging on, particularly in un-Westernized businesses, and governmental, medical, and cultural institutions. This means some of the most talented people are left without a financial leg to stand on while others are living the high life.

Finding out what people get paid in Moscow and how people feel about it is an endlessly fascinating topic. Because we at the Well were curious to know more, we created a survey to get some answers from you. Visitors to our office and website returned completed surveys in record numbers; people obviously have strong feelings about what they get paid and what they want.

Big questions: should individual pay be kept secret and should identical jobs pay the same?
International companies as a matter of policy keep all salaries private because nothing foments discontent quicker than when one employee discovers that someone in the office is getting a higher salary than everyone else. Once the news is out, the boss will find a line of angry employees at his door faster than he can say, "salary crisis."

When we asked our respondents how they felt about salary secrecy, we found the higher the pay, the more secretive the employee, particularly female employees earning the highest levels of pay. Everyone knows what an average personal assistant earns but everyone wants to know what those high executives are really pulling down, while the execs want to keep it secret. One exception was men earning between $2,000 and $3,000; more than half wanted all salaries to be made public, including their own. None of the women in the same range felt the same.

When asked if similar jobs should pay the same, women in the lowest pay scale, under $500 a month, and men at the highest pay scales, over $3,000 and $4,000, felt they should. Women at the highest pay were 100-percent opposed to identical pay for the same role. For many of our questions, the opinions of men and women changed places as pay levels increased.

One man disagreed with most of his fellow high-earning compatriots by saying job pay should reflect accomplishment. "One should take into account what every employee brings to the business. For example, if a cleaning lady cleans more and better than her colleague, shouldn’t she get bigger salary? The answer is obvious, of course," said a male IT director earning over $3,000 month.

Money and motivation
Earning more money would motivate virtually everyone to work harder, at all pay levels, according to our respondents, and almost all wish their jobs gave them more ways to earn extra money. Yet on average, about 10 percent of employees who could earn more at their current job chose not to bother. Financial incentives do not motivate every employee to work harder.

I am what I earn
Does a person’s salary have a strong impact on his/her sense of self? Interestingly, those in the middle range feel what they earn is important for their identity as a person, while those at the lowest and highest pay scales tended not to worry about such issues. Obviously, it is those who are striving for the highest pay, but not yet achieving it, who are most sensitive to what earning power says about them.

Making do: life in Moscow at less than $500 a month
It was clear from our survey that low pay in Moscow doesn’t mean the job is unimportant. Among those respondents earning less than $500 a month were doctors, PR managers, lawyers, engineers, and deputy directors, as well as the expected secretaries, cashiers, drivers, and common laborers. It is scary to realize that the doctor operating on your heart may earn less money than the guy shoveling snow in front of your office.

A lot of creative jobs were in this lowest scale, including designers, computer layout people, merchandisers, and marketing assistants. Most were young people starting their professional lives.

Those earning at this level rarely had the opportunity to earn more through incentives like bonuses for performance or commissions on sales. They could only earn more by getting a second job, as almost 15 percent of them did. Out of hundreds of respondents, only one man, a common laborer, said he was happy with his salary.

"I think employers should work out a system of bonuses and motivations for personnel. I’ve worked most of the fall and all winter for nothing but enthusiasm, staying late almost every day, even though my salary is only $100 higher than everybody else’s. Is all my extra work and effort being properly rewarded by that measly $100? I don’t think so," complained one woman, a tourism manager earning less than $500.

The lower the pay, the stronger employee resentment about favoritism and unfair business practices.

"None of my employers have ever paid for sick leave, vacation, or maternity leave. They didn’t value my work, although I’m a good employee. And they were very bad with their staff," said a female cashier.

"Bosses tend to pay more to people they know. If two people apply for the same position, and one of them is a stranger but the other is an acquaintance, the latter gets the job," said a female specialist making a very low salary.

"Salaries for the same position differ from person to person. What people get paid usually depends on whether the employee is a relative of the boss or not. There’s no justice," said a female manager making less than $500.

Overall, women are poorer
Most of those who make less than $500 a month are women – 61 percent, compared to 39 percent of men – while at the other end of the spectrum, those who earn over $4,000 a month, are almost exclusively men – 91 percent to 9 percent women. Whether women strive for less, accept less, or are just plain paid less, it’s impossible to tell.

Doing without
Getting paid less than $500 a month severely impacts employee quality of life. More than 70 percent of the men and over half of the women at this level said they share housing with someone else – their parents or a roommate, because they cannot afford to live on their own. Young men tend to share apartments, while young women tend to stay at home with their parents, who put pressure on them to earn more.

For those in serious relationships, having less money means putting off important events. Almost 50 percent of our respondents in relationships said they are waiting to have children until their financial situation improves. Sixty percent of the men are under significant pressure from their partner to earn more money, while only a quarter of the women feel the same pressure. Because more young women overall live at home, parents are a greater source of pressure for women in this pay scale than life partners.

Companies just plain cheating the poorest employees
"At my previous job they didn’t pay ’white’ (official) salaries, and they delayed payments by more than two months," said a female assistant earning less than $500. "When an employee was dismissed, they didn’t pay him or her at all. And the employee couldn’t even go to court, because everyone officially got 1,000 RUR. It’s a pity such things are practiced in companies," she continued.

"The last time my company paid out salaries, I got very little-not the money I was counting on, and I’ve worked for this company for quite a while," said another woman, a specialist. "When I looked at the payroll records I discovered the recorded salary is much lower than my actual pay."

The state can be the worst offender for low pay
Government jobs are famous for paying low salaries to highly educated and valuable employees.

"The state doesn’t give a d*** about people’s lives and increases salaries only when it is forced to, out of fear of work disruption by people quitting en masse," said a male cardiologist earning less than $500 a month.

Settling the score: life at $500 to $1,000 a month
As pay goes up, gender pay disparity begins to even out: our respondents at this pay scale were 56 percent women and 44 percent men.

Typical jobs in this range were bookkeeper, mid-level manager – department, sales, project, or PR manager – senior specialist, executive assistant, legal advisor, and even deputy director. Our most unique respondents were a manager for outdoor advertising, a client services director, and a transportation manager. At this level the schism between Soviet-era and modern pay rates is still clearly evident, with high-level deputy directors and secretaries both earning in this range.

Many roles offer financial incentives: more than a quarter of men and women at this level could earn additional money for performance. As a result, far fewer needed second jobs to stay financially afloat: just over five percent had more than one.

But $1,000 a month is still not enough to survive in Moscow; more than 60 percent of both men and women said they were not yet earning a "living wage." Almost all said they had exhausted ways to earn more money and wished they had more financial incentives in their job.

Living on less than $1,000
How men and women survive shifted sharply at this level, with 66 percent of women sharing housing for financial reasons, as opposed to only a quarter of men-an upset from the lower pay rate, when men clearly outnumbered women. Guess the guys are really pushing to find their own places, many getting married, while many women still live at home! Debt, parents, and children all created pressure on employees at this level to earn higher salaries. For men, supporting children exerted the most pressure while for women this pressure came from personal debt.

30 percent of the women were happy with their pay, but none of the men were. Almost 100 percent would work harder if they were paid more.

On the brink of a living wage: $1,000 to $2,000 a month
Earning over $1,500 constitutes a "living wage," according to the majority of our respondents in this level, although virtually all of them still feel underpaid and wished they earned more! Emotionally, under $1,500 still feels like scraping bottom; only 36 percent of the women and slightly less than half the men felt this was enough to survive.

It is here where women really start to lose ground. Respondents in the $1,000 to $1,500 range were 52 percent men to 48 percent women. By $1,500 to $2,000, the ratio tipped to 63 percent men and 37 percent women. The men tended to get higher base pays, while the women were offered more ways to earn through bonuses for performance.

Roles in the under-$1,500 range included department boss, manager, head legal advisor, HR director, health and safety officer, mechanic, IT director, and even cook, among many. Showing again that wide split in salaries, some personal assistant/ translators and general directors were also in this range.

In the over-$1,500 range were deputy general directors, senior specialists, recruitment consultants, department heads, financial analysts, senior IT managers, and even a manager of regional development.

Lots of things started happening in this pay scale that one might expect as workers mature: debt and children replaced parents as the main source of pressure to earn more for both men and women. More people were living on their own, or sharing housing by choice, not because they had to.

Offering bonuses but not following through
Several respondents in this range spoke of companies offering performance bonuses and then capriciously withholding them. "Month in and month out, on a regular basis, the management cuts employee bonuses without explanation. They don’t believe in any other methods of making people work harder than punishing them through money. It’s stupid!" said a male human resources director.

Getting there: over $2,000 a month
In this pay level were head bookkeepers, a range of managers, including brand managers, managers of client services, office managers, and even junior brand managers who ratcheted their pay scales up by earning bonuses for performance. It also included engineers, SAP R/3 administrators, and some directors. Most of this pay was base pay; less than 10 percent earned bonus pay for performance.

Unhappiness about salary was still very evident at this level, with 60 percent of women happy with their salary but only 40 percent of men. Having children was the highest source of pressure to earn more: 80 percent for women and 60 percent for men, showing our population is aging.

Living the good life! Earning over $3,000 or over $4,000 a month.
Evidently, unless you want to build a cottage in the country with solid gold fixtures, this is enough money to live decently in Moscow. Lots of people are buying flats, having kids, and taking on debt at this level. Welcome to the good life; even more pressure to earn more!

Jobs earning between $3,000 and $4,000 include executive directors, account managers, IT directors, financial managers, and the like. All get bonus pay and/or commissions. All are in modern commercial businesses.

Roles paying over $4,000 include executive director, vice president, director, chief legal advisor, business development director, sales and marketing manager, and the like. One hundred percent of the highest-paid people earn bonuses for performance, yet only a tenth get a fixed bonus like a 13th month or company stock options.

But, although it may be hard to believe, all the women and 70 percent of the men earning at this level still feel they are underpaid. Only 70 percent of the men consider this a "living wage," and almost half feel they don’t earn enough to buy a flat, and a fifth are waiting to have kids until things improve. This begs the question, "How much is enough?"

Who is fairer? Western verses Russian
Opinion is split on what kinds of companies are fairer when it come to salaries. Witness these two contradictory statements by two people making the same moderately low salary.

"I work in a representative office, so I can say that foreigners tend to pay as little as they can, while demanding so much in return. As a result there is no motivation at all," said a female receptionist."The situation is quite natural: the employee wants to earn more and the employer wants to pay less… Just a few Russian companies are beginning to pay according to each employee’s contribution to business success, as it is done in Western companies," said a male department head.

With choice comes power; pay us what we are worth!
"Companies have the right to decide what to pay their staff. But employees also can decide whether to work with these companies or not, for the given salary. Both sides must discuss all questions of payment before signing any contract. My work corresponds to what I am paid and I have no problem with management," said a female merchandiser making less than $500.

"Many big companies are fair in how they pay. Unfortunately, many more work according to the principle, ’If you don’t like the pay, just leave.’ Thankfully, salaries are increasing, giving people choice, and that’s good. People aren’t afraid to change jobs or lose jobs," said a female administrator earning $1,000 to $1,500.

Keep up the big picture thinking!
In the end, companies that don’t pinch pennies over pay are the most successful in keeping morale high and retaining good staff. As one female advertising manager wisely said, "When management underpays its staff, fearing rising employee expenses, one can quote the famous saying: Don’t be afraid of big expenses, be afraid of small profits."

This month’s winner for most perplexing analogy
"Payment in my company can be likened to several people trying to cover themselves with the same blanket: each division has only so much money to pay out in salaries so our division head regularly underpays us, claiming he is creating a public fund of that money. But the fund goes straight into his pocket. Maybe we are getting raises but we will never know… we wish our management had at least some idea about HR policy," said a man earning under $1,000 a month.

The Well is a member of Staffwell, Specialists at Recruiting in Russia. For your corporate hiring needs, please contact sales@staffwell.com or +7(495) 790-7490. For assistance with finding new employment, please email your CV to resume@staffwell.com and search our current job vacancies at www.staffwell.com.