A worker went viral on Reddit after sharing that the CEO of their company received a 20% raise—while they only received a paltry 1%.
The worker, who goes by @Awkward-Champion-274 on Reddit, wrote about the pay increase disparity on the site’s r/antiwork subreddit.
“CEO got a 20% raise, I got the lowest in the company at 1%. Cool,” the worker wrote. He added that he’s not a bad employee. He did admit, however, one major character flaw. “I keep calling my GM out on his bullsh*t.”
CEO got a 20% raise, I got the lowest in the company at 1%
by u/Awkward-Champion-274 in antiwork
The top-voted comment shared a link to an Economic Policy Institute paper, citing research that claims that, from 1978 to 2021, CEO pay has skyrocketed 1,460%. On average, the researchers said, CEOs in 2021 were paid 399 times more than a typical employee.
Another user noted that workers have become less valuable since the advent of A.I. technology. “The plan is to replace workers with AI. AI may just be capitalism’s next innovation,” they wrote.
“Company I work for fired 350 people and immediately raised the salaries of most executives,” another user replied.
A fourth Redditor explained how a CEOs’ raises are calculated compared to those of regular workers. CEOs are focused on maximizing profits, they said, and workers are judged based on productivity: “This is why workers get pennies, productivity is… near the same, while the CEOs get massive bonuses because he cut costs and owners saw great profits.”
Others, meanwhile, encouraged the worker to partake in either “quiet quitting” or “acting his wage.” Essentially, both of these trends involve setting boundaries at work and encouraging workers to do no more than what they are paid for.
Finally, others encouraged @Awkward-Champion-274 to change his attitude at work. One commenter, for instance, said that workplace behavior can be a large factor when determining raises. “As is the case for most of the corporate world, being liked by the right people is more important than being good,” they said.
In an upvoted reply, @Awkward-Champion-274 responded, “Well, I’ma do it again so let’s see what happens.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @Awkward-Champion-274 via Reddit direct message.
