Most workers have looked at their paychecks at some point and thought: I should be making more than this.
But Scott Galloway has a less comforting way of looking at your salary. Over the course of a career, there's a good chance you'll spend just as much time being overpaid as you do being underpaid.
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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.
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.
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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.
But Galloway argues careers don't always work that way.
That can be an especially difficult adjustment for older workers, who may also be confronting another obstacle: ageism.
Recent data shows older workers can have a harder time rebounding after losing a job. Among long-tenured workers displaced between 2023 and 2025, 72.9% of those ages 25 to 54 were employed again by January 2026, compared with just 57.3% of workers ages 55 to 64, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Galloway said he believes age has become an increasingly acceptable reason to write someone off professionally. He pointed to criticism of his own work, saying people will sometimes dismiss what he has to say simply because of how old he is.
The more practical lesson, however, may be less about fighting age itself and more about resisting the idea that a career should move in only one direction. A lower-paying role is not automatically a bad move if it offers greater stability, better benefits or a path toward stronger earnings later on. Sometimes the smartest career decision is the one that looks, at least temporarily, like a step backward.
That also means being careful not to turn your last salary into a permanent definition of your worth. As industries change, it's important to keep your skills current, your network active and your sense of the market grounded in what employers are paying now.
After all, careers are rarely clean ascents. Sometimes the ladder moves, sometimes the rung disappears and sometimes the next step pays less. The trick is knowing when a smaller paycheck is actually buying you a longer runway.
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This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: Scott Galloway warns chasing a raise with every job switch could backfire — especially for older workers
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
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