Surprised to be the first person to point this out. The entire premise of the article is dependent on a single study that definitely cannot demonstrate causation. The results of the study could equally well be explained by a third variable that causes both better financial outcomes and a higher likelihood to have more relationships with people who are wealthier.

Beyond that, I just have a lot of trouble accepting the conclusion because of everything I have seen in my career. Hard working people tend to know other hard working people. Hard working people get more done. Getting more done seemed to get you promoted, at least where I worked. Getting promoted had a meaningful, positive effect on income. People who weren’t very productive languished, conversely.

Possible this experience does not generalize to all workplaces!

Many places I've worked didn't promote hard workers at all. Hard workers were hard to replace so they were kept where they were and even blocked from promotions at times. People floating about with few duties were easy to backfill so could move to new positions, including up.

This is mostly public sector and utilities

Hard working helps but not enough. Connection helps more. At least in my career.

I couldn't get a job after graduation (post dot com bust). I started master, and in one of the class, I did the group project myself. One of the member of the group project was manager who got me the interview at her company and hired me.

Consider your assertions contrapositive.

If hard work implies good outcomes. --contrapositive -> If bad outcomes implied bad work.

I don't think it takes a lot of life experience to see that the above is not true. I argee that hardwork can definitely be corrolated or rather feels corrolated in retrospect but its not a given. Some of the hardest working people are paid the least if you adjust for the hours they actually work, or if the inherent value of their work is low (you mentioned failure to generalize) but even in specific case of tech its not a given that hardwork will actually make the differnece.

Almost no amount of hardwork can overcome the better sitution some people are born into / inherent. Someone staving in africa just isn't going to be the next physics star or atleast the statisistics don't predict them. There is certainly an equalization curve where if you incoming connects and circumstances are good enough hardwork because the decider. But your starting conditions play a huge role on where you will land in the grand scheme of things. You certainly can change your outcome but sometimes hardwork is not the same as smart work, if getting a promotion is 5 year process at your current job or moving to a new place. The better outcome actually comes from working less. I think some other commenters mention this as well.

A possible "third variable" could be intelligence. It's been shown to be strongly correlated with success in general, and it seems likely people of similar intelligence would find it easier to relate to each other.

> Hard working people tend to know other hard working people. ... Hard working people get more done.

Getting promoted at a FAANG is like a micro-effect. One percent of one percent of one percent. Generalizing our experience to 72 million Americans ain't it boss.

And our experience is subject to dozens of selection bias. For example, most of the best people I know at my current job are that way in part because I trained them at my last job at a university. And then they referred me into their employer networks. Beyond the hurdles of getting into a flagship state school, having those connections matter. Nobody I know from undergrad had any employment at FAANG when I was laid off a decade ago, I just got lucky enough to have a second cohort contacts in the form of student employees at a different flagship state university doing internships, landing jobs and looking for referral bonuses. Last I checked LinkedIn I'm the only engineer from my alma mater at my employer.

"Hard working people tend to know other hard working people. Hard working people get more done."

That reads so odd to me. It's like someone did a search-and-replace for "Well off" with "Hard working".

I am not aware of hard working people knowing each other. Like did they attend the same "hard working" schools or something?

> Getting more done seemed to get you promoted, at least where I worked

Anyone who has decades of experience won’t believe this. Promotion is very much a politics thing, the “merit” serving only documentation purposes. It’s not an indicator of your long-term performance after the promotion.

It’s good to point out that a single study can’t definitively draw causality but you should apply the same level of discernment to yourself.

How does one become hardworking? I doubt it's completely up to genetics. People who grow up around hardworking people are more likely to see hard work and its rewards, and are therefore more likely to become hardworking themselves.

I think it’s right if it’s corrected for one thing:

It’s not about working hard but about creating the perception that you’re working hard for the company!

The meritocracy fiction.