One topic that is bound to generate debate among people (and very often it is a heated debate) is the role that remuneration plays when a job applicant comes to choose which company to work with. Then there is also the role of remuneration in retaining employees and in motivating them to give their best. Very often there are two strong opposing views, with little middle ground in between that would enable the search for a compromise.

There are those who believe that people only care for the money and so higher salaries attract, retain and engage employees. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those who believe that the employee engagement comes from the passion to work for reasons that go beyond money and status.

With a number of economic activities restarting and taking on a revamp, following the easing of restrictions related to the coronavirus, one may expect an increased level of job mobility.

Freedom, autonomy, work-life balance, the quality of relationships, working for the common good, acquisition of new competences are all elements that come to mind as possible measures of one’s self-worth on the job

New job opportunities are likely to be created and this would push employees to seek alternative jobs.

Some employers would tell you that their employees have not shown any appreciation at all for the fact that they continued to pay full salaries and did not make anyone redundant, in spite of the fact that activity slowed down somewhat.

This would tend to show that money is really everything when it comes to employment. I do not subscribe to such an opinion. However, it is worth asking what the psychology of money really is.

Very often, when we speak of money, we immediately think of euros or dollars or pounds or the size of our bank account. And many of us may believe that they are worth a lot because the size of their bank account is not small (to put it mildly). Such people equate their financial worth with their self-worth. We link money to words like security, comfort, power and similar words because there is a common belief that a large salary and fat bank account provide all these.

However, students of economics would tell you that money is nothing more than a medium of exchange. As such, although money is an economic concept, it has to do with psychology as much as it has to do with economics.

Research shows that the association between money and job satisfaction is weak. Higher salaries do not make for a happy workforce. In spite of the fact we know this, and have experienced it time and time again, we still find employers and employees who continue to prioritise money as the best way to attract and retain staff or when choosing between various job opportunities.

Will coronavirus have changed all this? Will we re-evaluate the notion that money comes first and start to look for other measures to determine self-worth on the job?

Freedom, autonomy, work-life balance, the quality of relationships, working for the common good, acquisition of new competences are all elements that come to mind as possible measures of one’s self-worth on the job. I believe both employers and employees need to be challenged to reassess their priorities. The coronavirus should have made us more sober and helped us to realise that money is not really everything in a job.