content: This sounds fair - but within corporations there is variance in performance and skillset even within the same job. My "biggest career break" saw me hired in a position that was previously dominated by ex-military aircraft engineers and mechanics. There was a 'documentation' side and a 'familiarity with aircraft' side which they had. But when I was hired it had been determined that they needed people who actually understood how information systems communicated, and could debug code. So we were doing the same job with completely different skillsets and backgrounds.  Then to further add to the mix, the same corporation has to take into account your own expenses. If you telecommute a few days a week they might be able to pay you less to do the same job. If you live in a more expensive city - they might have to pay you more to do the same job. So while what you say is fair and valid, it can be much more complex. Even in a simple setting like retail - one person might perform better, be more detail oriented or better for morale - so they rightfully earn more to do the "same job".