NEXT time you’re lunching with your colleagues, try this: Ask everyone their salary. You might end up dining alone in the future.

Discussing money, as it is often said, is the last taboo. But that taboo, especially against revealing what we earn, has been slowly eroding. The question is, Will that make for a happier or more miserable workplace?

Concerns about pay transparency have been around for decades, but the issue is gaining momentum. One reason is a push at the federal level. President Obama has long made equal pay one of his priorities, he recently signed several executive orders regarding pay equity and transparency.

On a broader level, the Internet — with sites that compare salaries, like Glassdoor.com and Payscale.com — and the changing nature of the work force mean long-held assumptions about what is private and what is not are disappearing.