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"Similarly I suspect people take a bonus of X amount more happily than a raise that would work out to the same amount ” I think most people know that a bonus i

"Similarly I suspect people take a bonus of X amount more happily than a raise that would work out to the same amount ” I think most people know that a bonus is a much worse deal for most people who aren't VP and above level. A salary increase locks you in for the next year but the bonus can be taken away.

jtr_47 8y ago
I agree- Also, bonus pools also decrease in some groups year after year because the new project pool has dried up & you end up in BAU (business as usual) support mode and can't get another "new" project. New projects have nice bonus pools for most folks. Salary increases can also decrease, but you get something VS a bonus which could be 0 - some percentage of your base salary in some cases.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  My company gives better bonuses for good sales growth but then next year the target gets adjusted and it's pretty much guaranteed that we'll get less. It's a pretty rigged game.
  - olliej 8y ago
    It’s weird how that kind of thing happens everywhere. I remember when the surging fuel prices meant that everything had a “fuel surcharge”, eventually the sign disappeared but the price stayed the same.
olliej 8y ago
Yeah, I’m not so sure - basically imagine you’re an low/minimum wage worker. You (and millions who are earning more than the anemic us minimum wage) are fundamentally trapped in a paycheck to paycheck existence. A few hundred dollars right now could actually be worth more than an equivalent pay rise, because you don’t have to wait an entire year to have recovered it. That money you could use to immediately pay down debt, and you’re low income so you credit interest will be higher than the rich. Don’t get me wrong: I know that in general a bonus is probably cheaper than an actual wage increase for the company, but there’s a fairly large group where it can legitimately be worth more to someone. (Please no one respond with “poor people waste the bonus” it’s not helpful and also largely not true)
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  That sounds a little like the logic behind payday lending. Get some money now but pay a huge price later. I am sure plenty of people are in that position but it's certainly not a good thing.
  - olliej 8y ago
    Payday lenders can charge excessive interest rates, or “fees” (worded however necessary to make it “legal”) because they know the people getting them have no choice. If you need your car to get to your job, then if it needs immediate repairs you have no choice but to get the money for a mechanic immediately. If you’re on a low or minimum wage there is not any kind of safety buffer for you, and banks won’t lend to you (collectively low income people are higher risk of default so it’s easiest for banks to just say no than do it case by case). The problem is that once you have needed a payday loan once, you’re trapped: if you’re living paycheck to paycheck, then once they take their cut you don’t have enough money to pay the rent, so you need a loan ... And so from a single loan they now have a permanent source of income, and it’s a higher interest rate than any other (10-20% per week is “reasonable”) In principle I don’t have a problem with the concept of a payday loan (it’s essentially a secured credit), but something about that industry drives them to fee gouge and ruin people’s lives.

jtr_47 8y ago

I agree- Also, bonus pools also decrease in some groups year after year because the new project pool has dried up & you end up in BAU (business as usual) support mode and can't get another "new" project. New projects have nice bonus pools for most folks. Salary increases can also decrease, but you get something VS a bonus which could be 0 - some percentage of your base salary in some cases.

maxxxxx 8y ago
My company gives better bonuses for good sales growth but then next year the target gets adjusted and it's pretty much guaranteed that we'll get less. It's a pretty rigged game.
- olliej 8y ago
  It’s weird how that kind of thing happens everywhere. I remember when the surging fuel prices meant that everything had a “fuel surcharge”, eventually the sign disappeared but the price stayed the same.

olliej 8y ago

Yeah, I’m not so sure - basically imagine you’re an low/minimum wage worker. You (and millions who are earning more than the anemic us minimum wage) are fundamentally trapped in a paycheck to paycheck existence. A few hundred dollars right now could actually be worth more than an equivalent pay rise, because you don’t have to wait an entire year to have recovered it. That money you could use to immediately pay down debt, and you’re low income so you credit interest will be higher than the rich. Don’t get me wrong: I know that in general a bonus is probably cheaper than an actual wage increase for the company, but there’s a fairly large group where it can legitimately be worth more to someone. (Please no one respond with “poor people waste the bonus” it’s not helpful and also largely not true)

maxxxxx 8y ago
That sounds a little like the logic behind payday lending. Get some money now but pay a huge price later. I am sure plenty of people are in that position but it's certainly not a good thing.
- olliej 8y ago
  Payday lenders can charge excessive interest rates, or “fees” (worded however necessary to make it “legal”) because they know the people getting them have no choice. If you need your car to get to your job, then if it needs immediate repairs you have no choice but to get the money for a mechanic immediately. If you’re on a low or minimum wage there is not any kind of safety buffer for you, and banks won’t lend to you (collectively low income people are higher risk of default so it’s easiest for banks to just say no than do it case by case). The problem is that once you have needed a payday loan once, you’re trapped: if you’re living paycheck to paycheck, then once they take their cut you don’t have enough money to pay the rent, so you need a loan ... And so from a single loan they now have a permanent source of income, and it’s a higher interest rate than any other (10-20% per week is “reasonable”) In principle I don’t have a problem with the concept of a payday loan (it’s essentially a secured credit), but something about that industry drives them to fee gouge and ruin people’s lives.