Knowing your lane is important. I have a Texas MBA and have worked in corporate development and finance for most of my adult life, so just trust I know how shit works in this area. When I have a server question, you'll be #2 on my call sheet ( @rage-a-holic is my first call since I've known him since we were 18) ...
Ever heard of layoffs? When the economy declines mid-level employees are statistically the most effected demographic. But when they economy is good, they see no increase in wages. However, executives and upper management get bonuses when profits increase, and these bonuses are usually upwards to 20-30% of base salary. If the profits decline their bonuses may only be in the 15-20% range... boo-hoo. The wage gap is real, and getting wider, whether or not you'd like to admit it.
For example, my salary is about 8x more than the average employee in my company, my boss' base salary is 8x mine, and his boss makes 5x his...this is salary only and does not including bonuses or stock-based compensation. That's not a brag, it's just to illustrate how wide, and frankly disgusting, the wage gap is in corporate America from the average worker to the top.
As indicated above, this is simply not true... even in terms of stock grants and options. The increase/decrease in the value may be speculative, but the value at the time of grant or purchase is real. Worst case scenario the pay is in the form of options... usually at a ridiculously low value. For example, I once got options at $1/share when the company was trading at over $100. That's not an insignificant immediate gain. Why are low level employees not afforded this same opportunity?
Not true. The wage increase happened after the recession, which is exactly what you would expect.