Employee who was asked to pull up socks, can’t afford socks

A Dhoka employee who was asked to pull up his socks and improve his performance at work yesterday informed his office that he could not even afford socks.

"I wear loafers and slides all the time just so I don't have to wear socks. Socks are an unnecessary expenditure in this economy," Jahid Alam, 25, told this correspondent.

Jahid, who is an executive manager, said there was nothing executive about his pay-scale. "It is difficult to explain the cost of socks to your boss who earns 140 times higher than you," he said.

Jahid makes a valid point, experts say. According to data from 2018, CEOs have seen their pay grow 1,000% in the last 40 years and now make 278 times the average worker.

Afzal Haque, the founder of SureSalary, a headhunting agency, said the disparity was, however, a snapshot of the survival-of-the-fittest idea. "You work hard, you make more money. You have the connections, you make more money. You are a better negotiator, you make more money. Your family has money, so you make more money. Its simple math and not some nefarious conspiracy," he said.

For Jahid's problem, he said the solution wasn't lack of financial incentive to work more, but rather pairing up different socks. "Everyone knows that one in a pair of socks goes missing. What you need to do in this case is simply mix-up different socks. There's no such thing as mismatched socks," he said.

In the meantime, Bangladesh remains plagued by inequality problems. According to a 2019 report, the country's Gini coefficient, which is the economic measure of equality, stood at 0.482 in 2016, up from 0.458 in 2010.

The Gini coefficient is measured on a scale of 0 to 1; the closer it is to 1 the higher the inequality.

But those are just numbers, according to Afzal. The solution, as he says, is to fake it till you make it. "Get knock-offs, live in a smaller house, shop the discounts. Stretch your money. Stop asking for more, because that makes you less employable," he said.   Lubnan Khaleesi has the best taste in socks and will get you some just so you don't get cold feet. Also, what's the best place for rings for your little finger? She wonders, while she gets fit.