Even when what a person is paid to do as a job or salary has increased and doubled, at first it is in human nature to want to continue more and that it would increase, and tomorrow he wants it to increase again.
Last year, Samantha was paid a salary of over $200,000, which was over 200 million FRW and she added up to $100,000 in bonuses and allowances when she worked as a financial institution in a private equity firm.
This 34-year-old businessman lives in New York City, where the average monthly income is $70,000, which is more than 70 million FRW. His house is in the Tribecan neighborhood of Manhattan, which is located closer to the most expensive areas of the city.
Samantha takes some time off to hang out with friends once a year, often stops at tea and coffee shops and restaurants, and all the while she is paid and able to save money at the end of each month.
He says that his salary is big, good and interesting. But Samantha refrained from revealing her other name for the reasons of her job security, on the one hand she does not feel that she is high and satisfied enough with this salary.
He said, “I understand that at my level, I am one of the highest paid people in this country in terms of monthly income and I am proud of it because I have been very lucky. I just don’t know where it comes from because I always think I wish I was paid more than I am now. I think it comes from human nature.”
Maybe Samantha is right. Employers are increasing their wages depending on the state of the economy and market prices and the difficult labor market where finding work is difficult and unemployment has become an epidemic, especially among young people and not only in Rwanda.
However, other experts say that wage increases may not satisfy other workers, especially those in knowledge-based jobs who simply want a pay rise.
In fact, experts say that many people who are paid salaries that are slightly above the average international level do not have the ability to feel fully satisfied with the amount of money they are paid.
A bit of self-comparison and competition
One reason people like Samantha seem to be dissatisfied with their current high salary is that people in general have a natural tendency to compare themselves to others.
People often compare themselves to their own peers, those who work in the same job or industry, and those they work with on a daily basis.
“We only like to compare ourselves to a small group of people, not to a large number of people. Therefore, since a person may be in the top 1% of people who are paid well, it is usually their close friends or colleagues who are in the same salary range as you and you find yourself comparing yourself to them. ,” explains Professor Danna Greenberg, a professor of behavior at Babson University in Massachusetts.
Prof. “Whenever you compare yourself to other people, there’s always someone who’s better than you, who’s better paid than you, and you’re going to want to get ahead of them,” says Greenberg.
