Pay Equity

In response to Clifford Adelman’s column “Putting Women’s Education to Work Could Enrich U.S. Economy” (Opinion, Oct. 28):

The statement “women achieve pay equity in fields requiring substance more than fluff” hit home to me. Several years ago I was a manager in the data processing department of an insurance company. It was very easy to judge which of my workers were competent because they did things that were measurable. It was very hard to judge which of the managers were competent because much of what they did was fluff. Yet the managers were paid much more than the technicians.

As long as people (men or women) want the jobs that don’t require real skills, they will have to put up with the whims of their superiors. Also as long as companies reward the managers and executives more than the producers, the companies will have more and more problems competing in this world.

RICHARD F. MITTLEMAN

Downey