So more precisely, the reasonable choices would be wages, profit sharing in upside and downside, or lower wages + profit sharing in upside only. In another com

So more precisely, the reasonable choices would be wages, profit sharing in upside and downside, or lower wages + profit sharing in upside only. In another comment, someone asked about the executives who get paid and then "only have upside", as if that somehow proved that employees should also get an upside. Not so: executives are the last option: lower wages + profit sharing in upside only. Employees are—literally—taking the first option. If they want the last option, they can become executives. We don't have a legally-mandated cast system in this country, anyone who is competent can become an executive and take option three. And the wages really are lower for executives who only have upside potential. If you are an executive (not a manager, an executive) you can either run your own company, or run someone else's company. If you run your own company, you've got upside and downside risk. If you run someone else's company, you have (much) smaller upside potential, but that's compensated by: (a) lower, but guaranteed, wages + (b) no downside potential. It's a reasonable trade for a lot of executives to make.