this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2025
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Would make him the first billionaire in history to pay his workers their worth, so.... Not a fucking chance.
Unfortunately that isn't true, by accident this has been tested by tech companies like Netflix they were paid in stocks when the company was worth nothing but as it grew they got paid more and more until it became apparent that they didn't actually have to work anymore entire companies became filled with zombie employees people who don't work like at all beyond what they are contractually obligated to do, it created huge discontent between the teirs of worker the one's actually doing the work and the ones getting paid, you almost can't pay people beyond a certain amount because they don't work for you then they don't need to they can live a perfectly fine life without working and nothing gets done so you just have to higher a new staff who once again you can't in pay too much or they won't need to work and you'll just have more zombie employees.
It is actually very well established:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11211-008-0063-2
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0030507368900093
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_theory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation_crowding_theory
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3906839/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214804322001422
https://www.bsfrey.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/crowding-effects-on-intrinsic-motivation.pdf
I see absolutely nothing wrong with this. Why do you frame the workers doing the work they're paid to do as bad?
I don't get it. Are there any sources for this?
Are you saying the more people get paid the less work they do? This doesn't make sense to me. This sounds like a management and hiring issue. If someone doesn't want to work, you replace them with someone who does. Don't hire lazy fucks, hire competent people.
If I had a job that pays say 1 million a year, and I know I won't be able to get paid nowhere near as much at another company, I would make sure I work hard enough not lose that amazingly paid job, because otherwise I will have to work for half that and give up my rich lifestyle.
Again, a management issue for letting employees become zombies and a hiring issue for hiring lazy bums.
It is actually very well established:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11211-008-0063-2
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0030507368900093
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_theory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation_crowding_theory
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3906839/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214804322001422
https://www.bsfrey.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/crowding-effects-on-intrinsic-motivation.pdf
The research is mostly about overpaying, not high but equal pay for everyone doing the same job. It happens when people compare their effort to others' and if they feel over-rewarded it can actually lead to two outcomes:
And the evidence is actually mixed between the two outcomes, because different people respond differently to different incentives, like flexibility, holidays, etc.
Equity theory mostly applies only when the work is measurable and the teams/individuals compare themselves constantly.
IMO this can be solved by better management and equal pay for equal work/skillset.
There are also other incentives that can crowd out internal motivation, such as surveillance, pressure, inequality. But obviously management doesn't want to talk about those, much more profitable to reduce the pay.
High pay alone doesn't really trigger crowding out.
I still maintain my position that this is largely a management and greed issue. And high and equal pay alone doesn't create a lazy, zombie workforce.
Here's some studies and theories arguing the opposite:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33705159/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficiency_wage
https://wol.iza.org/uploads/articles/275/pdfs/efficiency-wages-variants-and-implications.pdf
That sounds a lot like the violence inherent in the system