by Jared Falk

Created on: June 03, 2009

No, people do not work more or harder if they are paid more. Higher paying jobs are usually more demanding of people or a result of promotion for working hard on a lower level. Now I know many people would say they would work harder if they got a raise, but it isn't true. It's really a no-brainer, when you were hired I set a wage for you and expected you to work your hardest, so if you tell me you have the ability to work harder but aren't because you aren't paid enough, you're now low man on the totem pole. Raises are earned (unless you are union where it's automatic) and hard work pays off.

Hard work is in your blood. When your job is feeding you, and maybe your family, how could you not give your all? When you work a minimum wage job and give it your all, that's where a boss knows you are worth keeping and has to raise your wage to keep you there. It is true that most employers pay you just enough to keep you there and not what you are worth. If this is your complaint, a capitalist society has competition so you are free to seek a job where you are paid your worth.

One day, my boss was visiting from the main corporate office and I had some issues at home with money. I told him I really needed a raise and threw out how I might take on extra responibility or do whatever I needed in order to deserve it. He responded by paraphrasing my whole argument, So you would work harder if we gave you a raise? I could hear in his voice how I was to respond. I knew if I were to agree, he'd think I wasn't already working my tail off. I learned from that experience.

I am now manager for that same company. I was doing reviews one day and handing out raises to some, and when one guy said, thanks, I really needed a raise I told him it's not because you need the money, but because you deserve it. I have never given a raise out and immediately following the employee works harder. I have, however, seen an improvement in performance when reviews are coming up.

People who are employed at low paying jobs and slack off or don't give it their full potential usually say they would care about their job if they made more money: that's garbage. In this economy, be thankful you have a job. Like panhandlers who have signs that read need work, if they really needed work they would apply themselves, most of them actually enjoy standing there doing nothing for free change.

Honestly, if someone told me they might work harder if they were paid more, that's a sign they are next to be let go. Only exception I can think of would be to own your own business: the harder you work, the more money you can earn, that is, in most cases.

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