6 ms·

US salaries are falling. Employers say compensation is just 'resetting'

27 points by pg_1234 3y ago

Delumine 3y ago
But their corporate profits keep going up....
- matchbok 3y ago
  If you want to work for a company where your salary is 100% tied to yearly profit, by my guest. But even a 2 second critical thinking exercise will demonstrate why that is a bad idea.
  - orwin 3y ago
    One of my friend literally work in a worker co-op for consultants. He has a base salary a bit lower than mine, but double it each year (2024 might be different though)
- mikece 3y ago
  As is inflation...
  - kccoder 3y ago
    Rate of inflation is going down, not up. 3.4% in 2023 vs 6.5 % in 2022 (https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/ https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-infl...). The target inflation rate is between 2-3%, so 2023 was pretty close to the target rate.
    - mikece 3y ago
      Meanwhile the price on literally everything is going up. Okay.
      - burnte 3y ago
        Well, yes, but more slowly than in 2022. No one said inflation was zero, only that it's back to a more manageable level.
      - reactordev 3y ago
        Greed and smaller packaging my friend. All they needed was an excuse.
      - drewcoo 3y ago
        Positive inflation will do that.
- s4mw1se 3y ago
  those are also resetting. Profits are in decline, resetting. Need a new batch of workers, reset the old ones right away. Resetting benefits. Reset workers back to the office. Reset PTO policy.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
jasonjamerson 3y ago
Wasn't there a labor shortage?
- ryoshu 3y ago
  Still is.
akeck 3y ago
My pet theory is that outside of the recent tech salary bubble decade, anyone with a "normal" salary in the US can't really get ahead without at least investing in market index funds/ETFs. Otherwise, all an employee gets is time-for-money pay (which is constantly under pressure as a business cost) with little if any upside from high industry profits. Either that or play the startup equity lottery.
arpyzo 3y ago
[flagged]
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
glimshe 3y ago
That's how high (or "realistic") interest rates feels like. Another way to think about it is that the low interest rate environment was a sort of bonus, not a base pay raise - for those who were correctly positioned to take advantage of it.
- Aloisius 3y ago
  Goodbye? The federal funds rate is at a 23 year high. And the Fed lowers interest rates when unemployment rises.
  - glimshe 3y ago
    That's what I was trying to say, but did so in a confusing way. Fixed, thank you.
bryanlarsen 3y ago
US wages have been increasing faster than inflation for the last 11 months: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1351276/wage-growth-vs-inflation-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1351276/wage-growth-vs-i... Still lots of help wanted signs in windows so anecdotally it still seems relatively easy to get a bump from $12/hr to $15/hr working retail. But the types of jobs posted on ziprecruiter.com aren't increasing like they were in the past.
- FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
  Why do we keep talking about the kind of jobs that put signs in the window. Are those good jobs?
  - bryanlarsen 3y ago
    No, but they're a substantial fraction of all jobs. They are also important because if you can't get one of those jobs the alternative is likely unemployment.
  - MattGaiser 3y ago
    It is basically an easy anecdote one can see day to day about whether there are openings in the local job market.
Aloisius 3y ago
> The tightening labour market has left US workers with fewer options than just years earlier. I thought a tight labor market was where demand for labor was higher than supply whereas a slack labor market had supply of labor than demand. This sounds like a slackening of the labor market, not a tightening.
DonsDiscountGas 3y ago
GDP is up 32% over the past 5 years[0]. Wages are up 25% over the same time period. Seems like we could use a little bit more compensation increases. [0] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1hYJD https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1hYJD [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1hYK4 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1hYK4
- Aloisius 3y ago
  GDP growth is utterly broken from increased government spending. It's not sustainable.
  - Volundr 3y ago
    Even if we accept that as true, it means we've allowed businesses to collect that overspending while not passing it on to workers. How convenient for them.
tacocataco 3y ago
If employees equally owned the businesses they work for, falling salaries wouldnt be as tragic a event as the employees would be compensated still by the company being worth more.
- mynameisnoone 3y ago
  Employee ownership is moral imperative. Worker owned co-ops should be de rigueur, not a rarity. It's absurd that companies like Amazon force people to work for peanuts and pee in bottles and yet reap enormous profits that aren't shared with those who made them.

27 points by pg_1234 3y ago

Delumine 3y ago

But their corporate profits keep going up....

matchbok 3y ago
If you want to work for a company where your salary is 100% tied to yearly profit, by my guest. But even a 2 second critical thinking exercise will demonstrate why that is a bad idea.
- orwin 3y ago
  One of my friend literally work in a worker co-op for consultants. He has a base salary a bit lower than mine, but double it each year (2024 might be different though)
mikece 3y ago
As is inflation...
- kccoder 3y ago
  Rate of inflation is going down, not up. 3.4% in 2023 vs 6.5 % in 2022 (https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/ https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-infl...). The target inflation rate is between 2-3%, so 2023 was pretty close to the target rate.
  - mikece 3y ago
    Meanwhile the price on literally everything is going up. Okay.
    - burnte 3y ago
      Well, yes, but more slowly than in 2022. No one said inflation was zero, only that it's back to a more manageable level.
    - reactordev 3y ago
      Greed and smaller packaging my friend. All they needed was an excuse.
    - drewcoo 3y ago
      Positive inflation will do that.
s4mw1se 3y ago
those are also resetting. Profits are in decline, resetting. Need a new batch of workers, reset the old ones right away. Resetting benefits. Reset workers back to the office. Reset PTO policy.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

jasonjamerson 3y ago

Wasn't there a labor shortage?

ryoshu 3y ago
Still is.

akeck 3y ago

My pet theory is that outside of the recent tech salary bubble decade, anyone with a "normal" salary in the US can't really get ahead without at least investing in market index funds/ETFs. Otherwise, all an employee gets is time-for-money pay (which is constantly under pressure as a business cost) with little if any upside from high industry profits. Either that or play the startup equity lottery.

arpyzo 3y ago

[flagged]

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

glimshe 3y ago

That's how high (or "realistic") interest rates feels like. Another way to think about it is that the low interest rate environment was a sort of bonus, not a base pay raise - for those who were correctly positioned to take advantage of it.

Aloisius 3y ago
Goodbye? The federal funds rate is at a 23 year high. And the Fed lowers interest rates when unemployment rises.
- glimshe 3y ago
  That's what I was trying to say, but did so in a confusing way. Fixed, thank you.

bryanlarsen 3y ago

US wages have been increasing faster than inflation for the last 11 months: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1351276/wage-growth-vs-inflation-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1351276/wage-growth-vs-i... Still lots of help wanted signs in windows so anecdotally it still seems relatively easy to get a bump from $12/hr to $15/hr working retail. But the types of jobs posted on ziprecruiter.com aren't increasing like they were in the past.

FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
Why do we keep talking about the kind of jobs that put signs in the window. Are those good jobs?
- bryanlarsen 3y ago
  No, but they're a substantial fraction of all jobs. They are also important because if you can't get one of those jobs the alternative is likely unemployment.
- MattGaiser 3y ago
  It is basically an easy anecdote one can see day to day about whether there are openings in the local job market.

Aloisius 3y ago

> The tightening labour market has left US workers with fewer options than just years earlier. I thought a tight labor market was where demand for labor was higher than supply whereas a slack labor market had supply of labor than demand. This sounds like a slackening of the labor market, not a tightening.

DonsDiscountGas 3y ago

GDP is up 32% over the past 5 years[0]. Wages are up 25% over the same time period. Seems like we could use a little bit more compensation increases. [0] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1hYJD https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1hYJD [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1hYK4 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1hYK4

Aloisius 3y ago
GDP growth is utterly broken from increased government spending. It's not sustainable.
- Volundr 3y ago
  Even if we accept that as true, it means we've allowed businesses to collect that overspending while not passing it on to workers. How convenient for them.

tacocataco 3y ago

If employees equally owned the businesses they work for, falling salaries wouldnt be as tragic a event as the employees would be compensated still by the company being worth more.

mynameisnoone 3y ago
Employee ownership is moral imperative. Worker owned co-ops should be de rigueur, not a rarity. It's absurd that companies like Amazon force people to work for peanuts and pee in bottles and yet reap enormous profits that aren't shared with those who made them.