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In ancient Roman times, people performed tasks in exchange for salt, a valuable commodity for food preservation. This payment was called “salarium”, the etymological origin of the word “salary”. -
During feudalism, peasants worked land granted by feudal lords and, in exchange, gave a significant part of their production, establishing a compensation system based on goods rather than money. -
Civilized nations began to ban slavery, recognizing the need to compensate labor fairly and contributing to the development of more equitable wage systems. -
With the rise of capitalism, production and social life began to be governed by the market, giving rise to the concept of the “labor market” where work is exchanged for a monetary wage. -
The Industrial Revolution transformed labor compensation, introducing modern wage systems and incentive administration. Charles Bedaux, a French engineer, introduced an incentive wage regime, including rewards and punishments. -
In the United States, the Fordist model offered higher wages to increase workers' purchasing power, promoting mass consumption and establishing a new role for wages in the economy. -
The Bolshevik Revolution implemented a “planned economy” where the state determined production and wages, eliminating the laws of the market in determining labor compensation. -
The Great Depression caused unemployment to rise and wages to fall in industrialized economies, highlighting the vulnerability of wage systems to economic crises. -
After World War II, the “Welfare State” emerged, introducing wage-related benefits such as health insurance, retirement, severance pay, vacations and the setting of a minimum wage by law, improving working conditions and wages. -
Starting in the 1960s, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, neoliberalism emerged, promoting the free market and limiting state intervention in the economy, which influenced wage and labor policies. -
In Colombia, the minimum wage has undergone significant increases, from COP $41,025 in 1990 to COP $1,423,500 in 2025, reflecting adjustments for inflation and efforts to improve workers' purchasing power.