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People say "If a business can't afford to pay a living wage, then they should close". But won't that hurt consumers and distort the market? Personally, I like

People say "If a business can't afford to pay a living wage, then they should close". But won't that hurt consumers and distort the market? Personally, I like having many options for food to eat. If all the marginal small businesses had to close because they can't pay someone $15/hr to wipe tables, then we might just be left with large chains like Olive Garden or Cheesecake Factory. I think people should get paid what they are worth, whatever the job. But I also like being able to get food from small restaurants from different cultures. And if all the marginal restaurants close, won't that just give more power to the larger corporations? they'll be able to raise prices, lower wages, whatever they want because there will be less competition. Obviously, the unemployment increase / stimulus in the US will end at some point. And then there will be a lot of people looking for jobs at once. People should figure out what they think a fair wage is for entry level jobs and take it if it's being offered.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
> But I also like being able to get food from small restaurants from different cultures. Right now, that only happens because some people aren’t lucky enough to be born in the right house. People don’t work nights and weekends for paltry wages out of their desire to serve people food. So it would hurt consumers. But it would help those who provide to the consumers. Imagine how expensive food would be if the people on this forum demanded to be paid “fairly” for weekend and evening work.
devmunchies 5y ago
> People say "If a business can't afford to pay a living wage, then they should close" I have a cookie company that raised the pay after we opened our 2nd location (economies of scale, buying in bulk, etc). Its in my interest as an employer to raise the pay since it typically raises the buy-in from employees. Companies like Netflix and Costco pay at the top of the competitive range and it allows you to run a tighter ship. Payroll is a cost, sure, but it's also an investment if you can afford it. Raising the minimum wage removes that competitive advantage for me. It takes time to bootstrap a company. It still only pays me half an engineering salary after 3 years.
- throw0101a 5y ago
  > Companies like Netflix and Costco pay at the top of the competitive range and it allows you to run a tighter ship. There's the old exchange: > CFO asks CEO: “What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave us?” > CEO: “ What happens if we don’t, and they stay?” * https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cfo-asks-ceo-what-happens-we-invest-developing-our-people-poullis https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cfo-asks-ceo-what-happens-we-... * https://twitter.com/richardbranson/status/449220072176107520 https://twitter.com/richardbranson/status/449220072176107520

lotsofpulp 5y ago

> But I also like being able to get food from small restaurants from different cultures. Right now, that only happens because some people aren’t lucky enough to be born in the right house. People don’t work nights and weekends for paltry wages out of their desire to serve people food. So it would hurt consumers. But it would help those who provide to the consumers. Imagine how expensive food would be if the people on this forum demanded to be paid “fairly” for weekend and evening work.

devmunchies 5y ago

> People say "If a business can't afford to pay a living wage, then they should close" I have a cookie company that raised the pay after we opened our 2nd location (economies of scale, buying in bulk, etc). Its in my interest as an employer to raise the pay since it typically raises the buy-in from employees. Companies like Netflix and Costco pay at the top of the competitive range and it allows you to run a tighter ship. Payroll is a cost, sure, but it's also an investment if you can afford it. Raising the minimum wage removes that competitive advantage for me. It takes time to bootstrap a company. It still only pays me half an engineering salary after 3 years.

throw0101a 5y ago
> Companies like Netflix and Costco pay at the top of the competitive range and it allows you to run a tighter ship. There's the old exchange: > CFO asks CEO: “What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave us?” > CEO: “ What happens if we don’t, and they stay?” * https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cfo-asks-ceo-what-happens-we-invest-developing-our-people-poullis https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cfo-asks-ceo-what-happens-we-... * https://twitter.com/richardbranson/status/449220072176107520 https://twitter.com/richardbranson/status/449220072176107520