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You shouldn't be horrified at that complaint. If a company hints that it's going to be 150k when they hire you and it ends up being 100k that is a valid complaint. You are just perpetuating the don't talk about pay rule which benefits the company over the workers.

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I agree that one shouldn’t discourage one’s coworkers from making such complaints.

I think the person you replied to was not necessarily horrified at the complaint to a fellow engineer. They were horrified that the complaint was made within earshot of a cafeteria server, who might envy the engineer for even having the chance to make that much money. I think the principle behind that horror is “it’s rude to avoidably inspire envy in others”.

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