They know. They know they can, and should pay you more, but they see your struggles with money as a way to motivate you to work harder for them.
I work in a communal office enviornment where tenants can rent a furnished office room on the floor of a building for hours, days, months or years depending on if you need to work long term or just need a place to occasionally visit to bring a client for a meeting. I'm a long term tenant and I am next to an office frequently rented out to people renting it for less than a day.
Last week I overheard a conversation between a newly successful and excited company owner from India looking to expand their footprint in America (Company Owner) [CO]. This man was meeting with two others. A corporate type who seems to work as a consultant for structuring a company when a company needs to expand or establish itself (Parasite) [PS] and some attorney to document and handle paperwork/documentation. Most of the conversation was about the product/service and how excited they were that it would be a sure success in America. The part of the conversation I am referring to went as follows:
CO: I want to make sure we give [employee] a very large salary. They have been with me a long time and they are my friend. I wouldn't have been able to do this without him.
PS: I don't think that would be a good idea, we want to keep him so we can work out a better number for him.
CO: I want to make it very clear to [employee] how much they mean to me. This is more than just an employee this is one of my most valued partnerships. He is every bit as much of the reason we have been successful as I am.
PS: That's great and we want to keep him working and making those contributions. But we want to make sure he's motivated and if you give him that high of a salary he's not going to be very motivated to work as hard or stay with you.
A few more words were exchanged. Company owner seemed resigned but didn't push the issue, based on what I heard I couldn't tell but I felt his tone sounded like he was sad he couldn't pay what he thought his employee was worth, but he continued and as far as I can tell papers were signed, the company was structured and they all went on their way.
They know. The struggling, the low wages, the lack of benefits, the unwillingness to pay you what you are actually worth is part of the operating process. Even if you are the hardest working and most impactful person at the company, your value is only useful in terms of their ability to control you. I witnessed a man who wanted to do right by his employee discover that he's now part of “The Club” and he can no longer help lift up his friends and partners. Now he's expected to keep them in their place because they don't have the same status as his new peers. The people below you don't deserve it, not because they don't work hard, not because they aren't worth it, not because it isn't in the budget, but because they are and have to be below you.
I feel sick and I needed to share this. Nothing will change. We need a merit based system of valuing the working class because what people deserve will never be willingly given to people. It's not about the money, it never was. It's about control and hierarchy and status and nothing more.