You're dismissing supply and demand a little too quickly with a broad stroke. When it comes to workforce, the supply is directly related to the supply of peopl

You're dismissing supply and demand a little too quickly with a broad stroke. When it comes to workforce, the supply is directly related to the supply of people able to do a job. Across the entire country, a job that requires little to no training to do will enjoy a much larger supply of workers than a job that requires more skill and experience. Then there are other factors that essentially cap wages by limiting the cost of a service, such as insurance. Auto insurance, for example, largely dictates the compensation level for repairs and consistently gets tighter and tighter. This means that no matter how effective you are as a mechanic, the business paying you has a limit on how it defines your value because it can't opt to simply charge more for your work. This applies to other industries as well. If wages are the "price" in the supply/demand formula, price fixing has to be taken into account.