How greedy is your work?
If so, you may be in a greedy job.
Greedy jobs are characterised by working long hours, often with less control over when the hours are worked. Demands are often made last minute with the assumption that they will be met. On the upside, they are often the highest paying jobs, even when considered on a per-hour basis.
Think investment bankers, corporate lawyers, C-level executives. ??????
Professor Claudia Goldin has studied ‘Greedy work’ as part of her research into women’s labour market outcomes, for which she was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in October 2023.
The actual term was coined by the sociologists Lewis Coser, who used it to describe work that ‘seeks exclusive and undivided loyalty’ and Rose Laub Coser, who used it to describe the work a primary care giver does for children, in her case motherhood.
Unfortunately, being the primary care giver of your children will generally be unpaid, unlike other greedy jobs, and your time demands will be more along the lines of:
But demands can still last minute and with a strong assumption they will be met!
Goldin identified that it is almost impossible to have more than one greedy job at a time. So, two people in a relationship could both be in greedy paid jobs with promising career progressions but if they start a family then a decision will have to be made about who will take on the greedy job of caring for the children.
Now, this could obviously be given to a live-in nanny or another family member, but often it falls to one of the parents, most frequently the mother.
To accommodate the demands of being the primary carer, people frequently cut down their hours, change role to one which is more time flexible or even leave the labour market altogether.
As a result, Goldin found that it is the industries with the most greedy work - and highest earning potential - in which there is the greatest gender gap.
Taking a look at the top 1% of all income payers in the UK would seem to support this. Men make up 83% of these, for which they have to earn over ￡160,000.
Interestingly, so many of the top 1% of income tax payers are male, middle-aged and London based, that a man aged 45–54 in London could be in the top 1% nationally while still needing a further ￡550,000 to be in the top 1% for his gender, age and region.
Not all high paying industries are greedy. Goldin found Pharmacists and Vets (in the US where her research was focused), were found to support more flexible ways of working and penalise less career breaks. In these industries, she found a much smaller difference in the gender pay gap too.
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Not all couples choose to follow the model where one parent pursues a greedy job and the other fits paid flexible work around their caring work. Both parents can change jobs to more flexible ones, but there will usually be a trade-off with earnings, as the greedy jobs are the ones paid most lavishly.
1 greedy job + a flexible job will usually earn more then 2 flexible jobs, even if the hours worked between the couple collectively are the same.
As Goldin says in her book Career and Family (2021), “As college graduates find life partnerships and begin planning families, in the starkest terms they are faced with a choice between a marriage of equals and a marriage with more money.”
Now, Goldin claims not to do two things: give advice or predict the future!
But she does believe the next wave of change to the labour market will need to include men. And I agree. While money is important, and especially so for the many families struggling financially, there are other things of great value in life - health and time, whether spent with family, on hobbies or helping those around you. Post Covid, there has been an increased demand from both genders for more flexible work.
My hope is that with new technologies and a higher demand, a healthier pattern of work, which fits in around the experiences and responsibilities of life, can prove its worth against the traditional greedy work. A bit like David overcoming Goliath despite all the odds.
I think greedy work is here to stay for the time being - and there may even be a place for it - but the more options people have to contribute their skills, talent and experience to shaping the products and services they use, while being fairly compensated, the better.
References:
Claudia Goldin Nobel Prize press release
Gender pay gap? Culprit is ‘greedy work’
Why are some jobs so greedy?
The characteristics and incomes of the top 1% https://ifs.org.uk/publications/characteristics-and-incomes-top-1
Experienced Leader with a Focus on Emotional Intelligence | Supporting Positive Workplace Dynamics and Employee Engagement through Proven, Evidence-Based Approaches
11 个月Interesting perspective! Definitely curious to learn more about the concept of "greedy work" and its implications.
Unsecured Regulatory Modelling at Virgin Money
11 个月Thank you for sharing this. I heard her speak about it on Freakonomics Radio and it was a relief to have a framework to use to think and talk about this. At home we have consciously chosen equality at the cost of career progression, and I'd guess that women are more likely to choose equality over keeping the 'greedy' job for themselves.