‘Greedy work’ and social costs: going beyond gender pay gaps

Claudia Goldin’s landmark Nobel Prize in Economics on labour economics and gender pay gap among educational and occupational strata has generated discussion around an interesting concept called ‘greedy work.’ Greedy work, as Goldin explains, is a job that pays disproportionately more on a per-hour basis, when people work a greater number of hours, or more importantly, has less control over those hours. This article argues that greedy work results in much larger social costs than just gender pay gaps. The social costs of greedy work find expressions in poor work–life balance, an organisational work culture that creates unhealthy competition, and skewed perceptions of distributive justice at the workplace. These outcomes are interrelated and transcends gender boundaries. The article concludes, transparency, procedural clarity, and a work culture, that encourages work that is cooperative in nature, could potentially minimise these social costs. Discussion around the social costs of greedy work gains relevance in the context of the recent debates around the linkage of longer work hours and nation’s productivity.