Overpaid and underworked?

When the subject turns to salaries, an IT consultant in the New York area sums up the feelings of many workers when he says, "I'm probably paid a little less than I'm worth."

Now he wants to change that. "I'm exploring my options," the consultant says, asking to be identified only as Eric because he fears he could jeopardize his current position if his firm finds out he is job-hunting.

Eric has plenty of company. A survey released Monday by Salary.com reveals that nearly 60 percent of workers seeking jobs claim they are underpaid. But in a surprising twist, the salary data website finds that nearly 20 percent are actually overpaid. Less than 20 percent are underpaid.

"Phrases like 'overworked and underpaid' perpetuate that feeling," says Lena Bottos, director of compensation for Salary.com. The online survey of employee satisfaction and retention polled nearly 14,000 workers and some 400 human-resources managers in a wide range of industries.

Salaries have long been cloaked in secrecy for many workers, making comparisons difficult. Now, online salary data sites enable workers to measure their pay against comparable positions in their field and location.

"You network with your peers, and absolutely they talk about salaries," Eric says. "At least they talk about ranges. Just looking around at what ranges are offered, you have an idea of the market rate. The consensus among my peers is that the way to get a good raise is to switch companies."

Another survey, done in 2005 by Hudson Highland Group, finds that only half of workers believe they are paid on a par with their peers.

The number of employees in the Salary.com poll who describe themselves as "very likely" to leave their current jobs increased more than 50 percent in the past year.

"There are a lot more new jobs," Ms. Bottos explains. "People see that the market is starting to pick up. The grass is always greener."

At the same time, employees are becoming "a little bolder" in terms of what they think they are worth, says Jeff Cooper, a senior business consultant at Authoria, a talent-management software company in Waltham, Mass.

Employers themselves have unwittingly created some of the confusion. When the economy slows, some companies inflate workers' titles in lieu of salary increases. Salary.com finds that nearly 30 percent of respondents are "over-titled."

"When a manager wants to reward an employee and doesn't have the budget to do so, you tack on 'supervisor,' 'manager,' 'director,' or 'senior' to their title," Bottos says. "But the problem then arises that you've given someone this 'manager' title, but they don't manage. You've created a disconnect between what their title is and what their salary should be."

Workplace experts caution that titles are deceiving and vary from company to company. "In the end, a title is what goes on someone's business card," says Lauren Williams, a managing partner with Princeton Search Group, an executive search firm. "It speaks very little to their abilities. What could be a manager in one company could be a director in another. An executive assistant in one company could be a receptionist in another. But responsibility is responsibility. That's what people can be accounted on and compensated for."

Whatever their title, many employees who are dissatisfied with their income say that a 10 percent raise would be enough to keep them for another year, according to Salary.com. Bottos calls that "an interesting number, because it isn't outrageous."

Employees at smaller companies may be more likely to feel underpaid. "We don't pay the most money," says Tobin Johnson, a manager for an independent financial services company in Minneapolis. As a result, he explains, "You have a small, select group of people who talk about it and try to do something about it by adding to their personal marketability. But there are also people who talk about it and do nothing to change their situation."

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