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> don't support paying you a wage that keeps up with inflation Your employer doesn't care what inflation is. They care about what they have to pay on the marke

> don't support paying you a wage that keeps up with inflation Your employer doesn't care what inflation is. They care about what they have to pay on the market to get you, and they care what you produce. Going to them and talking about inflation is making an irrelevant argument. Inflation isn't part of the equation that determines how much they pay you. Tell them your market value, and tell then your productivity. But talking about inflation is just going to illicit a 'so what?'

willcipriano 5y ago
If a business is unable to grow at a rate that is faster than inflation, that would mean it's shrinking in real terms. Why am I sticking around in a firm that is shrinking dramatically? Either the industry is dying or the business is being poorly managed. Working longer hours and throwing additional value on that fire doesn't seem like a great plan. You are probably better off spending your effort looking for a new job and lately you'll end up with more then 6% to show for it.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  > If a business is unable to grow at a rate that is faster than inflation, that would mean it's shrinking in real terms. But - again - you aren't paid a salary based on how well the business is doing. When a company's profits double do you think they double everyone's salaries? Of course not - surely you know that? You're paid based on what the market for you is, and what you produce and how valuable it is to the company. Like inflation, the size of the business isn't part of that equation.
  - willcipriano 5y ago
    The business isn't doing any better if it grew by 6.2% this year, the currency they are receiving and paying you with has reduced in value by 6.2%, so it is breaking even. I'm not saying this in a "capitalism is bad" sort of way, I'm saying this in a "capitalism is good" sort of way. Wages are up in the majority of sectors, unemployment is falling, if your company or industry can't do 6% this year you likely have other options that can. Use at will employment to your advantage.
    - chrisseaton 5y ago
      > if your company or industry can't do 6% this year you likely have other options that can That's the right argument to make. Not inflation as you were saying before. Talking about inflation to motivate pay rise is a logically unsound argument. 'Inflation is up 2%' - so what? 'I can get 2% elsewhere' ok we can talk.
      - willcipriano 5y ago
        Yeah I'm not certain where we disagree. I mainly reject the assertion that I may have misread, that workers should deliver additional value beyond what they are currently delivering in order to earn a raise. The currency has less value then last year and this is reflected in wages in aggregate. If you want to retain people, you'll need to keep up otherwise you should anticipate high turnover.
      - tyingq 5y ago
        >Talking about inflation to motivate pay rise is a logically unsound argument. I get the rest of what you're saying, but I don't see how it's logically unsound. To me, it logically unsound if a company raises prices to match inflation, and all of it's costs other than employee salaries raise at roughly the inflation rate. Why are salaries solely exempt as a cost subject to inflation?
        chrisseaton 5y ago
        Why does your employer pay you at all? To get you to work for them. So how much do they pay you to work for them? As little as it takes to convince you to work for them and not someone else. So how much does it take you to convince you to work for them? Just a little more than anyone else will pay you. So your pay depends on how much anyone else will pay you. Where does inflation enter that logic? You can say 'my costs have gone up by inflation I want to be paid that much more' but can you see how your costs don't figure into what they pay you? If you said 'this company will pay me more' than that works. But just 'inflation' doesn't.
        5y ago

willcipriano 5y ago

If a business is unable to grow at a rate that is faster than inflation, that would mean it's shrinking in real terms. Why am I sticking around in a firm that is shrinking dramatically? Either the industry is dying or the business is being poorly managed. Working longer hours and throwing additional value on that fire doesn't seem like a great plan. You are probably better off spending your effort looking for a new job and lately you'll end up with more then 6% to show for it.

chrisseaton 5y ago
> If a business is unable to grow at a rate that is faster than inflation, that would mean it's shrinking in real terms. But - again - you aren't paid a salary based on how well the business is doing. When a company's profits double do you think they double everyone's salaries? Of course not - surely you know that? You're paid based on what the market for you is, and what you produce and how valuable it is to the company. Like inflation, the size of the business isn't part of that equation.
- willcipriano 5y ago
  The business isn't doing any better if it grew by 6.2% this year, the currency they are receiving and paying you with has reduced in value by 6.2%, so it is breaking even. I'm not saying this in a "capitalism is bad" sort of way, I'm saying this in a "capitalism is good" sort of way. Wages are up in the majority of sectors, unemployment is falling, if your company or industry can't do 6% this year you likely have other options that can. Use at will employment to your advantage.
  - chrisseaton 5y ago
    > if your company or industry can't do 6% this year you likely have other options that can That's the right argument to make. Not inflation as you were saying before. Talking about inflation to motivate pay rise is a logically unsound argument. 'Inflation is up 2%' - so what? 'I can get 2% elsewhere' ok we can talk.
    - willcipriano 5y ago
      Yeah I'm not certain where we disagree. I mainly reject the assertion that I may have misread, that workers should deliver additional value beyond what they are currently delivering in order to earn a raise. The currency has less value then last year and this is reflected in wages in aggregate. If you want to retain people, you'll need to keep up otherwise you should anticipate high turnover.
    - tyingq 5y ago
      >Talking about inflation to motivate pay rise is a logically unsound argument. I get the rest of what you're saying, but I don't see how it's logically unsound. To me, it logically unsound if a company raises prices to match inflation, and all of it's costs other than employee salaries raise at roughly the inflation rate. Why are salaries solely exempt as a cost subject to inflation?
      - chrisseaton 5y ago
        Why does your employer pay you at all? To get you to work for them. So how much do they pay you to work for them? As little as it takes to convince you to work for them and not someone else. So how much does it take you to convince you to work for them? Just a little more than anyone else will pay you. So your pay depends on how much anyone else will pay you. Where does inflation enter that logic? You can say 'my costs have gone up by inflation I want to be paid that much more' but can you see how your costs don't figure into what they pay you? If you said 'this company will pay me more' than that works. But just 'inflation' doesn't.
        5y ago