Your workers are grown adults.

As someone fairly new to business and LinkedIn, I want to offer a counter to the droning narrative that "no one works for money" and that ensuring worker happiness should be a boss's main focus.

Your workers are grown adults—more than capable of managing their own happiness. The idea that happiness matters more than fair wages isn't just out of touch, it's disrespectful. A pizza party won't pay rent or groceries. Workers are adults with complex needs, not children to be placated.

If you truly want happy employees, start by paying them a living wage. No one is happy when they spend the majority of their life working but can't afford basic living expenses. Workers fought—and yes, even died—for the 8/8/8 principle: 8 hours for work, 8 for sleep, and 8 for what we will. Today, with productivity at an all-time high, it’s unacceptable to undermine those hard-fought rights.

Becoming a leader who respects workers as capable adults—not one who offers superficial perks like pizza parties—will not only honor their contributions but likely make managing them much simpler.

As for me, I work for money, and I’m not ashamed to say it. Join me in advocating for fair pay and dignity in the workplace. #EndThePizzaParty