The highest ranking job at a “big company” I ever had was at AMC theaters where I earned like $8.40 and data entry at a utilities company where I earned $15. I have no executive experience, this is just from observation.
We are only paid as much as it costs to replace us, and no more.
If we sign up for a replaceable job, ie: movie theater cleaner, I was only worth that amount of money to spend, because they'd hire someone else who can do the job to satisfaction, for the same price. If I went in there and demanded a raise to $10 , they'd boot me.
There is one sole function of a business: Profit.
The moment they can replace you or me for less, they will. Secretaries got replaced by CRM's, the ice delivery person got replaced by refrigerators. The cashier is being replaced by self checkout.
The role of the executive or business owner is to create systems within their business that are easy to teach, easy to replace and most importantly… does not rely on the knowledge of one person to get done.
Think how many small time business owners you know that would get screwed if that one employee whose been there for 10 years walked out… Big businesses get big by eliminating the reliance on any one employee.
So to summarize this part we have two ideas:
- The role of business is to profit
- The role of the executive is to create systems that are easy to teach & replace
So what do we do?
Well, we start by creating skills for ourselves that aren't easy to replace. It could be simple… excel wizard, use of a camera, coding, customer service, something… something that we get really good in.
This skill likely won't get us anywhere in our current jobs because one cannot become a profit in their home land… they have to leave in order to be that. So you take that skill with you to go into another job.
Eventually you'll get yourself somewhere… let's call it $52k office job doing pretty much nothing, the generic job you'll find in this subreddit.
Here's an idea of what to do once you get there:
You're part of a bigger company and instead of being the sweeper like I was, you have access to see how “business is actually done here.” You see how your business selects vendors, you see where the clients are coming from, you see the decisions being made… Mostly stupid decisions, but you take note. This is where it gets really, really interesting…
How to stick it to the man
What I think you can do from this point on is get REALLY good at your job. Like insanely good. So good that you get pissed off that it doesn't reflect in their appreciation towards you and your raises.
You do this by going the extra mile. Taking on more responsibility without compensation. Helping out other departments without your boss rewarding you, or even recognizing your achievements. Stick your neck out for clients even if it gets you in trouble because someone doesn't understand what was happening.
Learn the ins and outs of the business for 3-7 years… maybe even hop ship to similar business for a pay increase.
But at some point, something spectacular happens. You become indispensable. And you know it… Your bosses might even recognize it, they might pay you accordingly. This is you in a position of leverage, and it feels really good.
But lets say that doesn't happen.. this is antiwork after all…
What do you do? You take the processes of the business: How they find clients, vendor relationships, onboarding, execution of work, etc and then you start your own thing.
You spent the last few years learning everything from them… Now you have the opportunity to take their lunch, keep the profit, and pay people MORE than they're willing to. You'll win.
To summarize: Learn the in's and outs of your workplace, and leverage that to do your own thing. But in order for that to work, you have to put in effort that goes completely unrecognized and unrewarded by the higher ups.