[no_wizard]

>This has come to be known as principal-agent theory (or incentives theory), and is the foundational structure that most corporations are built upon today. Pay people more, and motivation should follow naturally.

This is where the article breaks down for me. This is definitely not what corporations do outside of the executive class.

The norm is attempting to drive pay and wages down as much as possible, sans a few exceptions. I think this is actually how it used to be until sometime in the mid 1980s when financialization took off in earnest and union power started to significantly decline.

EDIT: Here's an anecdote I experienced. When I was younger in college I got a job working nights at a FedEx Office. I did really well there, working full time and it accommodated my hours, and leadership took notice. One day, they pull me aside, and ask how they can help incentivize things. Before I could answer they said "The only rule is it can't be about money. Money is off the table". I told them that if money is off the table, then what are we talking about exactly? They didn't give me a straight answer, only they couldn't increase my wage. This to me is further evidence of how untrue this statement is.

FWIW, to complete the story, I left a short while later, and started working at Apple which lead to one of the most amazing lucky breaks I've ever had in my career

[Workaccount2]

I hate to say it, but in my (many years) of doing unskilled jobs, I have found that the management is very often just as, uh, "skilless" as the employees.

[alexpotato]

I had a conversation like this once at a large corporation where I worked:

Them: "We want you to be the Global Head of X given how well you've done as the Regional Head"

Me: "Great! Is there more money involved?"

Them: "No, sorry. Budget is tight this year"

Me: "Ok. How about having more people? Someone needs to replace me regionally while I do the Global role."

Them: "Sorry, no additional head count this year."

Me: "Ok. How about more title? I'm a VP and this sounds like Senior VP level."

Them: "Sorry, Senior VP needs minimum 5 direct reports and you will only have 3."

Me: "Then: no, I don't want the role"

Them: "But why not??"

I eventually did take the role farther down the line as I wanted a better title for the resume.