In many companies employees are hired at market and then given as few raises as humanly possible regardless of changes in the larger market, their own skills, or responsibilities.

Employees know this in the back of their mind, but seeing it play out with a concrete new hire is dangerous for employers.

In terms of discussions over beer, many companies successfully create taboos around comp. Larger cultures that are squeamish about talking about money, which includes many of those prevalent in the US, make that even easier for those companies.