Comments on: Status anxiety keeps earnings flatter across employees than they would otherwise be

By: John Muir

John Muir — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 04:09:58 +0000

An example that comes to mind is a unionized shop in which skilled trades can make more than middle management. Management has the ‘Power’, but can be replaced at a moment’s notice, while workers have contractual protections. We have seen this in government as well. Witness dam employees; WG is in a much higher bargaining unit than GS employees on site. In fact they can make money hand over fist doing fire service augmentations, outpacing even the local GM schedules.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 00:34:02 +0000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meiU6TxysCg

By: Gavin Longmuir

Gavin Longmuir — Sun, 03 Jul 2022 23:06:52 +0000

More likely it is a reflection of the difficulty of measuring productivity. We could all tell tales of the high productivity manager who came in, manipulated circumstances to exceed all targets, and was promoted on to bigger & better things — leaving a horrible mess behind her for the next unfortunate person to fix.

There are not so many jobs in which productivity is easy to measure. Think about the lady at the checkout counter at a grocery store. One lady may be faster in checking out than another; but the second slower checkout lady may have a more pleasant manner, such that the customer comes back to the store and spends more. Which of those two employees is more productive?

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 03 Jul 2022 17:34:01 +0000

More likely what keeps earnings flat across employees is a set of scientific management techniques designed to minimize employee unrest and maximize shareholder value.