Part of me simply says "Good. If your business can't afford to pay a living wage to its employees and depends on exploiting poorer people to keep going... well

Part of me simply says "Good. If your business can't afford to pay a living wage to its employees and depends on exploiting poorer people to keep going... well perhaps it doesn't deserve to stay open." I mean, it's clearly not a sustainable business for the number of employees you're hiring, in the same way a cheap coffee or meal made affordable by sweatshop or slave labour isn't a sustainable deal. Either way, if you can't afford to hire someone at a decent wage (or in some cases, even minimum wage), then you don't hire them. You find a new business to get into or do as much as you can yourself or through contractors.