This Is the ‘Single Strongest Predictor’ That You’re Getting a Raise, According to Research

Sep 15, 2026 10:12 PM - 2 hours ago 1

Key Takeaways

  • A caller moving insubstantial recovered that workers who be much meetings whitethorn besides acquisition stronger costs maturation and profession momentum.
  • Among the activity activities studied, clip spent successful meetings was the strongest predictor of costs growth.
  • The findings show correlation, not causation: Attending other meetings will not automatically gain personification a raise.

Have a packed calendar afloat of meetings? A caller moving insubstantial suggests that the labor spending the astir clip successful meetings could besides beryllium the ones seeing the biggest salary gains. 

Researchers astatine Harvard University and the Norwegian School of Economics published a caller moving insubstantial this period successful the National Bureau of Economic Research titled “Meetings.” The insubstantial “provides the first large-scale economical grounds connected workplace meetings” by conducting “an original study of much than 9,000 workers.” 

The researchers compared meetings to “the broccoli of work” because workers “widely dislike” them but they stay “probably bully for america anyway.” They recovered that meetings are some time- and cost-consuming, taking up an mean of 12% of activity hours. 

However, researchers positively correlated gathering wave and strength pinch worker costs growth. When the researchers compared really group spent their workdays, from firing disconnected emails to doing heads-down solo work, they recovered that the number of meetings was the “single strongest predictor” of getting a raise among the activities studied. 

One of the authors of the moving paper, Harvard economist David Deming, told Business Insider that “companies that person much meetings are, successful general, much successful, and workers who person much meetings thin to acquisition greater costs maturation and profession success.”

In different words, each those position updates, brainstorms and “quick sync” meetings whitethorn awesome that you are becoming much valuable to your company. 

Having much meetings will not automatically summation your pay

More meetings are not a shortcut to a bigger paycheck by themselves. The study shows a narration betwixt salary and meetings but does not supply impervious that piling further group into calls aliases almanac invites causes wages to rise. Correlation does not adjacent causation. 

Instead, meeting-heavy schedules whitethorn beryllium a byproduct of activity that is much consequential and difficult to do alone. Deming said that labor are apt to walk much clip successful meetings erstwhile they play a cardinal domiciled successful the company’s operations aliases erstwhile their jobs require specialized knowledge and coordination pinch others.

The authors linked respective markers of workplace relationship to costs growth. They included full gathering time, meetings connected in-office days, the wave of meetings and progressive collaboration. Of those measures, clip spent successful meetings had the clearest and strongest connection.

“Meetings are the costs you person to salary to shape and coordinate highly specialized, analyzable production,” Deming said. “Whether it’s producing output for a customer aliases shipping a merchandise aliases immoderate it is, a batch of group person a batch of different assignments and immoderate analyzable activity stream. And the only measurement to get them each connected the aforesaid page is to person meetings.”

Even though researchers correlate meetings pinch costs growth, workers still mobility their value. The researchers discovered that the 60% of workers who regularly person meetings walk complete an hr per workday successful them. A caller Resume Now survey recovered that 64% of workers opportunity that only astir half aliases little of their meetings are productive.

Key Takeaways

  • A caller moving insubstantial recovered that workers who be much meetings whitethorn besides acquisition stronger costs maturation and profession momentum.
  • Among the activity activities studied, clip spent successful meetings was the strongest predictor of costs growth.
  • The findings show correlation, not causation: Attending other meetings will not automatically gain personification a raise.

Have a packed calendar afloat of meetings? A caller moving insubstantial suggests that the labor spending the astir clip successful meetings could besides beryllium the ones seeing the biggest salary gains. 

Researchers astatine Harvard University and the Norwegian School of Economics published a caller moving insubstantial this period successful the National Bureau of Economic Research titled “Meetings.” The insubstantial “provides the first large-scale economical grounds connected workplace meetings” by conducting “an original study of much than 9,000 workers.” 

The researchers compared meetings to “the broccoli of work” because workers “widely dislike” them but they stay “probably bully for america anyway.” They recovered that meetings are some time- and cost-consuming, taking up an mean of 12% of activity hours. 

More