Sure, I get that, but I think it's a mistake to think of these things as totally interchangeable, that anything can just be quantified to a salary number. Ther

Sure, I get that, but I think it's a mistake to think of these things as totally interchangeable, that anything can just be quantified to a salary number. There is some threshold where many people simply quit or leave a profession, and basically no amount of salary would cause them to come back - I've seen this in droves when it comes to nurses and teachers. Point being I guess is that, for employers, the total cost of, say, adding some additional workers to provide better working conditions for everyone is going to be a much lower cost in the long run than simply providing hellish conditions for fewer workers and then needing to pay them out the wazoo to keep them from quitting.