Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Quote:
Im all for ensuring that all sorts of low skill jobs can be available and not automated. While automation innovations can be good, there still is a segment of the population that's below average... And its about half the population. And they have to exist, and they have to do something, and they probably should be prevented from dying in the streets... But it doesn't mean they should have the best of anything... But last I checked, $15/hr sure doesn't get that. Heck, $30/hr is only a $60k/year job and it sure doesn't get you the best of everything either.
$25-30 an hour with:
What is the company gave this person....
Retirement, vacations, 12 paid holidays, 1 week paid 'personal business' (doesn't count against vacation/sick pay), dental/health/life insurance, $10K yearly tuition reimbursement, paid training, 160 hours of sick pay, regular over time, ...etc... makes that full-time employee very expensive.
And? While that's nice, the fact that that employee is "very expensive" from a burdened man-year perspective is a calculated decision to get a worthy candidate.
It doesn't change the fact that at $30/hr,,someone earning $60k/ year isn't going to be able to (smartly) afford the absolute best in everything. They're not buying new Mercedes cars and summering in "the Vineyard" so to speak. That was my point.
But you bring up another good point that people who are "just employees" don't necessarily get. That $30/hr job, when you consider the payroll taxes the company has to pay, healthcare, vacation and sick time that is paid, etc., etc, likely creates a burdened rate that is double what is paid out. In other words, that $30/hr employee is likely costing the business $60/hr in true total cost, and as such, the employee needs to generate that much revenue.
It's no different when we talk minimum wage. It may be $7.50 higher wage, for,example, but other overhead/burdened costs increase proportionately, making the actual cost to the business even higher.
