“Do You Really Think Boss Man ‘Earns’ That?”: Woman Breaks Down The Massive Wage Gap Between CEOs And Their Employees

When we think of high paying professions, particularly in the United States, a few often come to mind: surgeons, lawyers, engineers, accountants, dentists. For the most part, we have an understanding of what these careers entail and what route is taken to become one. A slightly more mysterious profession is that of a CEO, or Chief Executive Officer. Every CEO will have a different day depending on the company they run, but there is one thing they all seem to have in common: high wages.

Last month, TikTok user Emma Robins posted a video breaking down how massive the wage gap is between CEOs and their workers. The video has almost 100k likes and over 3,000 comments from fellow anti-capitalists. Below, you can read Emma’s explanation and decide for yourself whether or not these humongous CEO salaries are fair for employees. And if you’re craving some redistribution of wealth after reading this piece, be sure to check out more Bored Panda articles in the vein of anti-capitalism here and here.

More info: TikTok

Last month, Emma Robins posted a TikTok breaking down the startling gap between the salaries of CEOs and their employees

Image credits: Pexels (not the actual photo)

Image credits: emmaisafeminist

Emma explained that CEOs make so much because they’re calling the shots

Image credits: emmaisafeminist

If you’re not super familiar with what CEOs spend their time doing, you’re not alone. In 2018, CNBC published an article titled “Here’s what CEOs actually do all day”. The piece features a study from Harvard Business Review and breaks down how 27 CEOs of companies with an average annual income of $13.1 billion managed their time. For these CEOs, most working days were 9.7 hours long, and they tended to work almost 8 hours each weekend as well. After factoring in how much they work on vacation days, the grand total of the CEOs’ average working week came out to 62.5 hours, about 18 hours more than most US employees.

Within these working hours, there was a range of vague responsibilities: 25% of their time was spent on people and relationships, and another 25% was spent on functional and business unit reviews. 16% was used for organization and culture, while 21% was dedicated to personal strategy. Only 3% was used for personal development and 1% for crisis management. Lastly, mergers and acquisitions and operating plans each got 4%. What takes up the bulk of this time, however, is sitting in meetings. 72% of the CEOs’ working time was spent in meetings. The researchers also noted that face-to-face time is the most valuable asset for CEOs. It’s “the best way for [them] to exercise influence, learn what’s really going on, and delegate to move forward the multiple agendas that must be advanced. It also allows CEOs to best support and coach the people they work closely with.”

When it comes to why CEOs earn so much money, a Wise Geek article claims it’s because “they have made numerous personal sacrifices over the years for the good of their companies and have earned the right to share in the profits”. I cannot speak on the depth of sacrifices CEOs make, but I would argue that almost every employee ends up making some personal sacrifices for their career. It’s encouraged in today’s capitalist hustle culture. Most of us are just expected to do it for 1/350th of the salary.

How do you feel about the massive earnings of CEOs? Let us know in the comments if you think they’ve earned their wealth or if employees deserve a larger share!

You can watch the video to hear Emma’s detailed explanation here

@emmaisafeminist do u really think boss man “earns” that #capitalism #anticapitalism #neofeudalism #taxtherich #eattherich ♬ original sound – Emma Robins