Entitlements in the workplace

Research has shown that for workers over the age of 55 a workers’ productivity is often lower than their wages.

That makes this chart somewhat worrisome:

Data Source: BLS, Author’s calculation

Considering the current demographic picture, the percent of the civilian labor force over 55 is only going to increase. The current society wide implicit and explicit seniority based pay system is not sustainable.  Things will have to break somewhere, and it is more likely to happen in the private sector than in the unionized public sector.