Taylor Swift gives $100K bonuses to tour workers: Is she the world’s best boss?

“She’s giving a sum of money that is life-changing for these people,” Mike Scherkenbach, who runs the concert transportation company Shomotion that Swift uses, told Rolling Stone this week. “A lot of these drivers are not homeowners, and a lump sum like this gives you the ability to put a down payment on a home. That’s what makes me really happy. That generosity is a game changer for these people.”

“There are a lot of very wealthy people who choose not to share a dime of it,” he added. “We work with all kinds of wealthy people, but this is not the norm.”

Swift, 33, is reportedly giving a total of $55 million in bonuses to workers on her tour, which has become so popular that it broke Ticketmaster’s website several months ago.

The tour has sold out shows across the U.S. and in some other countries too – the Wall Street Journal estimates that the tour will earn over $1 billion.

“Its generally known that she’s generating a huge amount of money, and she’s making a lot of money off her tour,” Maureen Clark, President at Three Sixty HR, Inc., a human resources consulting firm, told MarketWatch. “I have a feeling those people work really hard. It’s not an eight-hour-a-day job. It’s great that she shares that with them.”

Swift’s tour is scheduled to be more than 100 shows, and more concerts were just added on Thursday in cities including Miami, New Orleans and Indianapolis. The singer is also touring in Europe, Mexico and Australia. Swift has a net worth of $740 million, according to Forbes estimates, and is the 34th richest self-made woman in the world.

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Surely most workers who have received or will receive bonuses from Swift will enjoy the cash injection, but are bonuses really what workers want from their employers?

Not surprisingly: yes.

As part of a Washington Post-Ipsos poll from May, workers were asked to rank the most important aspect of their job. By far the most popular answer given was how much they were paid, with 45% of workers saying it was their top issue. The issue that was second most important was having a good manager, at 14%.

A different poll from Gallup in 2022 also asked workers their most important factors when choosing a job. And some 64% of respondents said increases in income were high on their priority list.

The emphasis on money seems to be growing, too. In 2015, making more money was No. 4 on Gallup’s employee priority tracker, at 41%, detailing that workers are valuing compensation at their jobs more than before.

Of course prices for nearly everything including food, transportation, and rent have been on the rise over the past few years amid rising inflation in America. The rate of core inflation over the past 12 months slowed to 4.8% from 5.3% in June, but remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target rate.

The Post-Ipsos poll took answers from 1,148 workers ages 18 to 64 in March and April, 2023, and the Gallup poll surveyed 13,085 employees in October, 2021.

Clark says big bonuses being paid to employees typically only happens when there is an “incredible windfall,” which Swift’s tour is shaping up to be.

So is Swift the world’s best boss?

Money is a “factor” for workers, Clark says, “it’s probably in the first three, but assuming that people feel like they are being fairly paid they would rather have a pleasant work environment.”

Representatives for Swift did not respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment on this story.

Read on: Taylor Swift is on track to earn $332 million this year, which could make her the highest-paid entertainer