At an all-hands meeting last week, Google executives responded to employee questions about declining morale even with financial performance improving.
At an all-hands meeting last week, Google executives responded to employee questions about declining morale even with financial performance improving.
Oh I’m aware, am part of the industry. I think the disparately higher compensation relative to the rest of the economy has given us a false idea we’re paid fairly (perhaps even unfairly high) for what we produce. Which I have definitely felt myself. In fact I’ve felt very strange of the disparities within the industry itself. However that’s completely the wrong way to look at it. There’s no magical upper number that our labor deserves. Everything is determined by what people pay and how much they buy. (I’m not saying that’s the only way it should be) So if the revenues and profits are sky high, and we know labor makes most of it happen, then our labor is simply worth that much more. Given that someone will collect the difference, we may as well get a larger share of it. The sooner we recognize that, the sooner we’ll get even higher compensation which will be much more beneficial for people in the wider economy than a much smaller proportion of the exec class getting wealthier. But that can’t happen without unions. We mistake the temporary labor shortage for stable and strong negotiation leverage.