[Verse 1] They say they keep salaries private for you To protect your privacy, that's what they do But when no one knows what their neighbor makes The house always wins, whatever it takes Information is power, they hold all the cards While you're left guessing, playing blind in the yard [Chorus] Opacity, negotiation, audit without action, benchmarking to the middle Compensation failure's got us trapped inside this riddle They design the game so they always win the prize While equity and fairness slowly die before our eyes Opacity, negotiation, audit without action, benchmarking to the middle That's the compensation riddle [Verse 2] Starting salary depends on how well you fight But some folks were taught that pushing isn't right Women face backlash when they ask for more Minorities struggle to even the score HR knows the research, sees the bias clear But keeps using negotiation year after year [Chorus] Opacity, negotiation, audit without action, benchmarking to the middle Compensation failure's got us trapped inside this riddle They design the game so they always win the prize While equity and fairness slowly die before our eyes Opacity, negotiation, audit without action, benchmarking to the middle That's the compensation riddle [Bridge] Pay equity audits sound so nice and fair But they compare apples to apples with mathematical care Missing all the structure that keeps some people down Women in low-paid roles, minorities not around And when they find disparities, what do they do? Fix the worst cases, ignore the rest of you [Verse 3] Market benchmarking to find the median rate Everyone's aiming for that same baseline fate When all companies target the middle ground True differentiation can't be found It's a race to average, a ceiling disguised As competitive wisdom, but it's really comprised [Final Chorus] Opacity, negotiation, audit without action, benchmarking to the middle Compensation failure's got us trapped inside this riddle The paradigm's broken but they claim it's working fine While real equity gets left behind Opacity, negotiation, audit without action, benchmarking to the middle That's the compensation riddle That's the compensation riddle
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