> The idea that you can perform poorly if you are paid less is not really true.
Can confirm from my experience. The greater the salary, the better the working conditions. Companies that paid as little as possible also tried to squeeze out as much work as possible.
> Shouldn’t a company pay what a job is worth to them
No, they pay just enough for you to accept working there. If your alternatives are worse than your colleagues because you don't have high-paying local options, you'll be paid less.
> why should they pay me less or more dependent on variables external to my actual work.
They won’t pay you more in the long term. In the short term, they may be trying out candidates willing to work for cheaper. If they notice cheaper employees are available and providing the same utility, then I would bet the more expensive employees are on the chopping block.
> Clearly you're very good at what you do. Speak to the folks at your company and help them help you make the situation better.
I'm in a very similar position (less money, but in a much cheaper country, so I still make about 40x minimum wage). I think in my case partially the reason why the company is paying me so much is precisely because the overall conditions there are so shitty, not because I'm some genius. So, as soon as they improve the conditions, they can start paying less.
>Also, studies seem to find that money doesn't motivate people to perform at a higher level.
What that really means is that if you're paying $200k now, bumping to $250k isn't going to make your workers more productive. However, if you're paying $200k now and you cut the pay to $180k, and your competitors are offering $230k, your best performers are still going to jump ship.
> It will force management to have better salary policies.
Totally agreed. Quite often the reason X gets paid more than Y is that X demanded the money and had the social power to get away with it.
This is, of course, a really bad idea. If one believes in salary as any sort of incentive for specific behavior, then it encourages people being aggressive and demanding. It also encourages people to create situations where they are necessary, irreplaceable, and noticed due to regular heroics. While discouraging people from being polite, unassuming, dedicated team players who work hard to share knowledge, improve truck factor, and invest in long-term sustainability.
> Isn't it the case that with this sort of system that if you increase your skills, your company is more profitable and therefore you all get paid more?
Your reward is not commensurate with the opportunity cost of improving your output. It gets worse with larger companies.
> I feel too underpaid to be stressed. In that sense, being underpaid is much more of a good thing than a bad thing, since my performance is good enough
Being underpaid allows me to switch jobs very easy so that I don't have to compromise on my values. I now see the ones being overpaid as being in a trap.
> Anyone else see an issue with this comment? We don’t know how to value the work of a corporate employee but we’re simultaneously all being paid less than we’re worth.
Think of it as a general rule of thumb, a statistical average. You will for example find that often managers and executives make a crazy amount of money, but are all but useless, but are only a small part of the bigger company.
> People who are willing to negotiate should get a higher salary.
Most people's take is that people who perform better should get a higher salary. While negotiation helps prevent you from being underpaid, it very often[1] is the reason people who perform poorer are getting a higher salary.
> A more valuable employee is going to tend to have better wages.
I disagree. Wages are a proxy for your value, but not a very accurate one. Among my circle of friends, I've seen 2 of them get significantly different offers for doing very similar jobs. One can negotiate very well; the other is a total nerd. Both are comparable in ability. The negotiator makes nearly 2x as much as the other guy.
There is a lot more to compensation than just your "value to the company".
Can confirm from my experience. The greater the salary, the better the working conditions. Companies that paid as little as possible also tried to squeeze out as much work as possible.
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