Comment by oogali
2 hours ago
It's the same incentive that exists in certain corporations and government agencies which have a use-it-or-lose-it budgeting model.
https://www.nber.org/digest/mar14/use-it-or-lose-it-budget-r...
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/12/politics/use-it-or-lose-it-pe...
It can be even worse than that, like having budget adjusted down if you don't spend it the previous year
I worked at a college, didnt make much, but it annoyed me endlessly that my pay was forever fixed unless another position opened up, we had to spend the budget on tech worth more than I would have been more than happy to have extra per year, but me getting a meaningful raise was a bridge too far for the accounting department. They even questioned if any students used our lab, which was the only way many of them got through their degree.