Scott Galloway says you’ll be ‘overpaid’ 50% of your career — and chasing a raise with every job switch could backfire

That tension can become especially apparent later in a career, after years of promotions, raises and job hopping have pushed a worker’s salary higher. Research from the Urban Institute found that, while older workers are less likely than their younger counterparts to lose their jobs, those who are laid off can have a harder time finding new work and face longer stretches of unemployment.

Galloway argues that, in some cases, the issue may not simply be whether a job is available, but whether workers are willing to accept ones that are available.

“Can you get a job or can you just not get a job you want?” Galloway said on his podcast.

No one thinks they’re overpaid

Galloway’s argument may be a tough sell for workers who already feel like they should be earning more. Research suggests that perception is incredibly common even among people who are already being paid above the going market rate.

A 2025 Payscale survey found that 68% of workers believed they were underpaid. But perhaps more surprisingly, nearly half — 47% — of employees who were actually being paid above market still thought they weren’t making enough.

It’s not hard to see why workers may feel that way. On Reddit’s Work community, one user described making $48,000 after nearly two years with their company while spending roughly half of their paycheck on rent.

“I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being underpaid,” the user wrote.

Another worker said they had spent more than 15 years at a multibillion-dollar company and had to push for a year before finally being promoted to manager. They later discovered their new salary was more than $10,000 below what the previous person in the same role had earned.

There’s a reason workers may come to expect a bigger paycheck when they change jobs. Switching employers has often paid off: in July 2026, job changers saw median wage growth of 4.4%, compared with 3.6% for workers who stayed in their jobs, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

But Galloway’s argument is that workers can start treating that pattern as a rule, assuming each new job should come with the same salary or a raise. Over the course of a decades-long career, that may not always be realistic.

Down the ladder

That disconnect can become more consequential later in a career, when a worker who has spent decades climbing the salary ladder suddenly finds themselves looking for a new job.

Galloway sees some of that disconnect even among his own employees. He said he tries to pay members of his team roughly 30% to 50% above market rates, yet doesn’t expect anyone to describe themselves as overpaid.

“No one sits about and says, ‘Hey Mom, I’m overpaid,’” he said.

In Galloway’s view, compensation is rarely calibrated perfectly to what someone is worth at any given moment. At different points in a career, he argues, workers will inevitably be underpaid or overpaid.

The problem can come when years of raises and promotions establish a new baseline. When it’s time to move on, the natural expectation is that the next job should pay at least as much — and preferably more.