Linked – The growing CEO pay gap is killing workplace culture
So, this little tidbit from the UK might be of interest to you:
This means that the average FT 100 CEO earns as much by lunchtime on 4th January as their workers earn all year.
Since it is now Jan 7th, they are nearly making double compared to what the average worker earns all year.
And they wonder why workers don’t seem engaged.
https://www.makeworkbetter.info/p/the-growing-ceo-pay-gap-is-killing
I came across this on the same day that I saw this Instagram post:
View this post on Instagram
Let’s be honest; this isn’t difficult to figure out. I’ve seen some people talking about this headline and blaming workers for not knowing what the company does and how it makes money, but I don’t think that’s it. We all know what the company does and that most exist to make money at all costs. (Thanks to Milton Friedman.)
Here’s the thing: I was a teenager in the 1980s. I grew up learning all about “trickle-down” economics, and I believed it. Why wouldn’t I? If you work for a company that makes money, the more profit it makes, the better for everyone involved. That seemed obvious.
Except we now have over 40 years of proof that this never happened.
Like this:
CEOs’ annual realized compensation in 1978 was $1,874,000 in 1978, but rose to $22,207,000 last year—the 1,085% increase. Meanwhile, private-sector workers were making $57,000 a year nearly half a century ago, and have only seen that rise to $71,000. The figures were adjusted for inflation.
Workers aren’t ignorant about what their companies do and how their work contributes to the company; they don’t care. Nor should they. Not when the company’s profits can reach astronomical new highs and workers are lucky to get a raise that matches the cost of living increase for that year. Not when we can work our asses off to be successful remotely and continue to make the company all that profit only to be told that we have to come back to the office every day at our own expense. Not when 10% of them got laid off to ensure that the shareholders and CEO’s got theirs.
People aren’t detached from the company because it hasn’t explained what they do correctly. They simply don’t give a flying fuck about a company that hasn’t given a flying fuck about them their entire careers.
If you work in tech right now:
- You’ve likely been laid off at least once.
- You’ve been through layoffs and had to adjust to “doing more with less” in the wake of it.
- Your CEO and investors have become massively wealthy, while you and your peers have done all the work and received paychecks.
All of us who have no ownership stake in our employer work for a paycheck. There’s no reason to be loyal or engaged in the company’s mission because the company’s true mission is to enrich people who aren’t us.
Remember, if you don’t own it, it’s a job. A job you should feel free to leave the second someone gives you a better offer. (In pay, benefits, location, etc.) You owe the company the work they pay you for, and that’s it. That is not a cultural crisis but a reasonable response to the US business world.
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