Fixing Inequality Starts with Fixing Work—Are We Up for the Challenge?

The wage gap between executives and workers has never been wider. In the U.S., CEO pay has grown 1,460% since 1978, while worker pay has barely kept up with inflation. But this isn’t just about CEOs—it’s happening across industries.

• Doctors used to make 4x what a nurse earned—now it’s 8x.

• Law firm partners once made 5x what legal secretaries earned—now it’s 40x.

• Bank presidents earned 50x a bank teller’s salary—now it’s over 1,000x.

The middle class is disappearing, and middle-skilled jobs are vanishing along with it. We haven’t just lost fair wages—we’ve lost clear pathways to economic mobility.

Yale Professor Dr. Markovitz put it simply: “If we want to fix inequality, we have to fix work.”

But instead of fixing work, many companies keep making the same mistakes—laying off employees in waves, relying on short-term cost-cutting, and hiring aggressively in boom times only to slash jobs later. This cycle isn’t just unsustainable—it’s a leadership failure.

The good news? Some companies are breaking the pattern. They’re redesigning work to create stability, growth, and opportunity—not just for executives, but for everyone.

Three Leadership Moves to Address the Wage Gap

1️⃣ Rethink Pay Structures for Long-Term Sustainability

As we saw above, wage gaps have widened dramatically over the past few decades. The imbalance isn’t just about fairness—it’s about business sustainability. Extreme pay disparities weaken employee trust, fuel disengagement, and create retention issues at every level.

Some companies are taking a different approach. Dr. Bronner’s caps CEO pay at 5x the salary of their lowest-paid worker, proving that business success doesn’t have to come at the expense of employees. Others, like Patagonia, have experimented with wage equity strategies that led to higher productivity, stronger retention, and better business performance.

What leaders can do:
✅ Audit pay structures to ensure compensation reflects value creation at all levels.
✅ Implement profit-sharing or equity programs so workers benefit from company success.
✅ Shift from excessive executive pay increases to fair, strategic wage growth across roles.

2️⃣ Invest in Middle-Skilled & Grey-Collar Jobs

For decades, middle-skill jobs—roles that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree—were a stepping stone to middle-class stability. But today, many of those jobs are disappearing as businesses automate, offshore, or de-prioritize them.

At the same time, grey-collar jobs—which blend technical expertise with hands-on work—are booming. Roles like healthcare techs, advanced manufacturing specialists, and logistics managers offer strong wages without requiring a college degree. Yet, too often, companies fail to invest in the training and career pathways that would help workers move into these roles.

The result? Fewer opportunities for upward mobility, a shrinking middle class, and businesses stuck in a cycle of talent shortages.

Keep Reading with a 2-Week Free Trial