Working people, who can you trust?

The Columbus Dispatch carried an AP article that reports a 12.4% drop in incomes for American men in their 30's between 1974 and 2004, adjusted for inflation.

The report said CEO pay increased from 35 times the average worker's pay in 1978 to 262 times in 2004.

How could this happen? It happens because the employees can't see what's going on in corporate culture, and don't know what to expect or who they can trust.

I think employees generally can trust the fairness of family-owned businesses, but I don't know if there's ever been a time when employees could trust people who run corporations.

Which is why, if I were young, I would never work for a corporation, and I would never trust my long-term future to any small business because once they become solidly profitable they become new bait to the big corporations. If that happens when employees are in their mid- or late-careers, they are often discarded or downgraded. Thus do CEO's earn their pay.

Young workers at the beginning of their careers should begin preparing for success by viewing corporate culture as it views them - and by not tying their well-being to the longevity of small businesses. Be a CEO or be self-employed.