A funny thing happens at $15 per hour...

[newwurldmn]

actually meritocracy goes out the window. Wage inflation fucks those who are talented but earning 20/hour as immediately the lazy are earning as much as them and there is little ability for a company to pay the good workers. Remember that labor is pretty inelastic once the demand is set at this level of wage.

I've seen it.

When an employer must pay every employee a minimum of $15 per hour regardless of duties a funny thing happens. Something we haven't seen in a long time.

Suddenly that employer has a word on his mind. That word is "merit".

When he or she must pay employees $15 per hour they start looking for actual competency. They start to look for reliability. They start to look for people who show up on time.

And they start firing people who do not meet those standards.

The whole thing is a hat tip to meritocracy. Many will be shut out of the work force but seeing leftists promote employment based upon merit is wonderful. Of course they don't know they are promoting the meritocracy but I think it will become apparent to them a few years down the line.

When the leftists perceive the unintended results of their work I think the next push will be something like "you must hire everyone who applies in the order of application" or some other drastic measure to ensure that you cannot hire based upon competency.

Tonight though the issue appears to be mute because the Senate Parliamentarian has declared that Uncle Joe cannot raise the minimum wage as part of the Covid Relief Bill.

So far Joe Biden has done nothing but issue Executive Orders and has not passed a single law through Congress. Yeah, that first 100 days LOL.

 

[TreeFrogTrader]

Anyone hiring illegal immigrants are not paying them based off of a minimum wage so the issue has nothing to do with flow of cheap labor....they are paid under the table.

Bullshit. You have hundreds of thousands of illegals working right on the payroll of thousands of companies, big, small, and medium. Phony documentation and a Costco card was all that needed.

The fact that many are paid under the table does not take that away.

In addition you missed the point I made, along with other points, which is why would there be such a thing as an illegal in America under the Biden administration if he is going to give citizenship or legal temp status to anyone who is here- period. And you think that he is going to tell them that they cannot work while working toward citizenship? And you think further that the will be working for less than minimum wage if they are not in the shadows? Think it through.

 

[Ricter]

someone needs to teach you basic math.

if you need 10 people to run a restaurant, maybe you get by with 9. You can’t run your business with 5 regardless of the wages. You don’t think a business that hired 10 people at 7.5 would hire only 5 at 7.5 if they could?

I am against the minimum wage, but your logic is below sophomoric.

You posted the point I wanted to make. If you need 10 people on at lunchtime to fill orders, then you're going to have 10 people on at lunchtime, if you can find them. If your competition has to pay $15 an hour too, then there's no competitive disadvantage to you to keep 10 people on for lunchtime. To maintain margin you'll need to raise prices, and you and your competition will continue to monitor technological substitutions for labor, as you always have. McDonald's has introduced kiosks in what, the past 5 years? Long after the last minimum wage increase.

 

[newwurldmn]

You posted the point I wanted to make. If you need 10 people on at lunchtime to fill orders, then you're going to have 10 people on at lunchtime, if you can find them. If your competition has to pay $15 an hour too, then there's no competitive disadvantage to you to keep 10 people on for lunchtime. To maintain margin you'll need to raise prices, and you and your competition will continue to monitor technological substitutions for labor, as you always have. McDonald's has introduced kiosks in what, the past 5 years? Long after the last minimum wage increase.

I think min wage will reduce employment. A lot of employers can’t pass the cost on. And those that can will mean that consumers will pay more. Further it will hurt the work ethic.

I just disagree with Ken’s comments.

 

[jem]

Those figures are nominal. That plateau from 2017 to 2018 is, with inflation factored in, a fall in revenue.

So what. As long as the Fed is creating trillions and passing it out...there will be inflation. You were wrong...revenues went up.

 

[UsualName]

This is easily remedied by better management no matter what the minimum wage is....

The irony is that raising the minimum wage will put pressure to raise the management pay also.

 

[UsualName]

I think min wage will reduce employment. A lot of employers can’t pass the cost on. And those that can will mean that consumers will pay more. Further it will hurt the work ethic.

I just disagree with Ken’s comments.

There will be some trimming of the excess and businesses will have to run more efficiently with an increase in the minimum wage. Will it be the end of the world? No.

Also, nobody is talking about the benefits of raising the minimum wage. Believe it or not, it actually will have a positive impact on consumption and quality of life in this country.

 

[FortuneTeller]

It's not funny. I busted my hump in every W-2 I ever worked in, and my last gig in a big-box retail some 11 years ago was the hardest. Running around the store giving the 110%, while watching coworkers just lollygag around. So I wind up doing their work as well. And due to "corporate culture", these jamokes were never held accountable. I worked so hard I blew out my hip (due to a previous bodily complaint that resurfaced because of all the exertion), and could no longer work the job. Even to this day, the same stores continue to employ people with NO WORK ETHIC. Drives me batty.

Wow. I guess it isn't funny. Blowing out a hip doesn't sound like fun at all. Hope it got better.

 

[SunTrader]

Has anyone who has posted in this topic so far started and ran a small business before?

 

[SunTrader]

You posted the point I wanted to make. If you need 10 people on at lunchtime to fill orders, then you're going to have 10 people on at lunchtime, if you can find them. If your competition has to pay $15 an hour too, then there's no competitive disadvantage to you to keep 10 people on for lunchtime. To maintain margin you'll need to raise prices, and you and your competition will continue to monitor technological substitutions for labor, as you always have. McDonald's has introduced kiosks in what, the past 5 years? Long after the last minimum wage increase.

Minimum wage has not kept up with inflation for decades. Meanwhile automating people out of jobs, such as at McDonalds, has been going on .... for decades.

Companies do that, and will continue to do that, regardless of the current cost of their lowest skilled workers.

I have no issue with that. I do with people (in fulltime jobs) not getting a livable wage. Wal-Mart and many others have seen the light. If their customers (low-skilled workers) have more income, they have more to spend.