I think ceos that think this way are a self fulfilling prophecy of doom. If they think of their employees as cogs that can be replaced, they get cogs that can be replaced.

Doesn't matter

The median CEO salary is in the millions, they do not have to ever worry about money again if they can just stick around for one CEO gig for a couple of years

Granted, people who become CEOs are not likely to think this way

But the fact is that when people have so much money they could retire immediately with no consequences, they are basically impossible for a business to hold accountable outside of actual illegal activity

And let's be real. Often it's difficult to even hold them accountable for actual illegal activity too

If you’re playing at that level, you’re not thinking about subsistence living and never having to work again. You are driven by ego, by winning, by legacy. All three incentivize you to do well if your board consists of non-asshats. You are playing a multi-shot game.

I know, that's my point

Incentives for CEOs and Executives are just way different, which is actually a huge part of the problem we face in society

We are run into the ground for profit by people who think the purpose of life is to profit

> they are basically impossible for a business to hold accountable outside of actual illegal activity

False. CEOs are held accountable all the time. At the extreme end, research shows that 1 in 3 CEOs are fired within 18 months.

>At the extreme end, research shows that 1 in 3 CEOs are fired within 18 months.

And the size of the parachute they get when they're tossed from the plane? I know that there are many small companies with someone in a "CEO" position who might not be hugely compensated, but speaking of CEOs at major corporate ventures here, as is commonly understood when one talks about questions of executive responsibility (or lack thereof), let's be real on some actual severance figure averages for a clearer picture of consequences and "punishment".

Being fired is not being held accountable, it is being terminated

> Being fired is not being held accountable, it is being terminated

Termination is the end result of a process

It is not unreasonable to think that is an accountability process of some sort...

You're talking about being accountable to shareholders

I am talking about being accountable to society

What do you recommend then instead of losing your job and by extension the ability to affect society in a big way?

Jail, mostly

I just think that "our company got caught doing seriously illegal / negligent shit but don't worry we fired the CEO who oversaw all of it after paying them 10s of millions of dollars" is really not a punishment to either the company or the CEO

It's kind of a rigged system that ensures no one is held accountable

Oh, "the company" gets fined a fraction of the value they gained from behaving illegally, the shareholders get a ton of money, the executive team gets a golden parachute, and society gets fucked

Honestly we should be putting people to death for this behavior, instead many of us applaud what great business sense everyone involved has

Isn't this good for the CEO? if your employees aren't cogs then what do you do if they leave? the more replaceable they are the better bargaining power you have as a capitalist right

If you have all cogs, the scope of your business is almost always local. You’re running a lawn mowing business or a subway. And I’m not denigrating those businesses just making the point that they’re not the bulk of the economy. If you’re running a serious business part of your business may be cogs but there’s a very important layer of non cogs that you spend most of your time recruiting, keeping, and guiding. These folks are irreplaceable.