The gap between high-performing teams/ICs and the bottom half is growing wider – and definitely not US-specific.
European performance averages aren’t matching, either. Probably fewer top performers in the top 1%. 🇪🇺
This also sharpens the conflict between left and right. If corporations get limited gains from the bottom 50-60%, this questions the UBI unit economics or how many individuals rely on GDP generated by every 1%er.
📗Additionally, 60% of Americans read at a sixth-grade level or below. This alone limits career progress opportunities and developing the right skills and traits for higher-performing roles.
In a 1st-world economy where median income is among the top 5 on the planet, competition for the bottom half will always be fierce. Between AI automating jobs and importing goods or people from lower-income countries, financial pressure is mounting over time.
👉 The media should finally stop promoting and advocating for an extreme “work-life balance” culture that Gen Z and now Alpha are picking up, with digital nomading and influencer lifestyles and inherent access to jobs.
Earning this opportunity through skills, hard work, and accomplishments is one thing. Taking it for granted causes friction, job dissatisfaction, low productivity, and an endless cycle that impacts the bottom line (and real human lives).
