Meeting Frequency Predicts Higher Wages and Career Success

A new working paper reveals that meeting frequency and duration serve as the strongest predictors of wage growth and career success for employees. The research utilized a 2025 Norstat survey of thousands of workers, which was matched with Norwegian administrative data spanning 2022 to 2024.

David Deming, a Harvard economist and study author, found that meeting hours, frequency, and active collaboration correlate positively with higher pay. He argues that meetings are necessary to coordinate highly specialized and complex production, which in turn makes the employees involved more essential to their employers. While the study identifies a correlation rather than direct causation, it suggests that intensive workplace interaction signals the type of demanding work that typically commands higher wages.

In contrast, the researchers discovered that general team support and a positive workplace environment have only weak associations with wage progression.