Business

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/WhataHugeCEOSalaryWouldBuyYou.aspx?page=2

It is strange to think the US is #1 in the pay gap between the executives and the worker bees (read above article this is paraphrased from page 2). Growing up in Rochester it always amazed me that instead of cutting the executive’s pay by a small percentage the big employers would lay off thousands of workers. At the very least they could do a combination of the 2 methods of cost reduction. From my recollection the layoffs were not because the workers became obsolete but because the company was loosing money.

In my opinion the worker bees fired have a very small impact on the company’s performance. They (for the most part) build what they are told and do not do much else. It’s the executives that determine how to market, what to build, and make the other critical decisions needed to steer the company into big profits or tremendous losses. So why is it that they are not taking the losses with the company? I understand that they are paid to work all of the time and shoulder a lot of responsibility but shouldn’t their compensation grow as the company becomes more profitable (and shrink if they post losses)?

Their is another article on MSN today about living wages, how can you be against it? One gentleman even went as far to say that the government is not taking care of these unskilled workers, why should businesses? Let me tell you. These people are WORKING for a living and trying to get by on just over 10K/year. They are productive members of society, providing a service for your company (and us consumers). Why do you feel that you can pay them less then it costs to live in any given area? I’m not rich (maybe low to mid middle class) but I can’t fathom living on only 10k/year even if you could find an apartment for less then 450/month (double that if you want to live in NJ). If you don’t pay taxes after rent you have $442.66 left for gas, a car, groceries, insurance, electric and other utilities, medical expenses, and other necessities. Is that even possible?

With all of that said it’s probably why I am not a CEO (yet), though I’m not a communist either. I don’t think everyone should be paid equally, not everyone does the same job or works as hard as everyone else.