1 - Common Sense
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Seattle boss raises entire company's minimum wage to $70,000
I don't think there are many people who would do what Mr. Price decided to do!
Take a large salary cut! A truly kind and generous person!
Seattle boss raises entire company's minimum wage to $70,000
After hearing about a study that claimed income-- to a certain level-- directly affects one's emotional well-being, the founder of a Seattle-based credit card processing company announced Monday that he will take a large salary cut so he can increase the pay for each employee to at least $70,000 a year.The New York Times reported that Dan Price, the head of Gravity Payments, told his 120-person staff about the plan after talking to friends about the difficulties of making $40,000 a year."As much as I'm a capitalist, there is nothing in the market that is making me do it," he told the paper.
Last edited by Common Sense (4/14/2015 1:18 pm)
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” former vice president Biden said during a campaign event in Texas on Monday. "All men and women created by — you know, you know, the thing.”
- tennyson
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Re: Seattle boss raises entire company's minimum wage to $70,000
I agree that it truly is a nice gesture.
I am left wondering, however, if after awhile some in the company will wonder why a person with perhaps less skills is making exactly what they might be making and then for some will it become a disincentive to work harder or obtain more skills, etc ? It is an interesting question to ponder.
Last edited by tennyson (4/14/2015 1:50 pm)
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
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Re: Seattle boss raises entire company's minimum wage to $70,000
Had the same thoughts, tennyson. If the least knowledgeable and or paid employee's income is increased to 70K are the incomes of the employees who make 70K or more already raised exponentially. If I made $26,000 before the increase and now I make $70,000 how are my coworkers going to feel if their incomes are not increased?
Last edited by flowergirl (4/14/2015 3:16 pm)
- The Man
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Re: Seattle boss raises entire company's minimum wage to $70,000
Flowergirl and Tennyson point out the big problem with raising the minimum wage: workers currently making over the minimum wage won't get a raise to match.
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Re: Seattle boss raises entire company's minimum wage to $70,000
Isn't there an old saying about people complaining at a free beer party,,,,,,
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
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Re: Seattle boss raises entire company's minimum wage to $70,000
Well, let's look at this in the perspective of let's say a McDonalds. Now if the owners decided that $70,000 was the minimum that all employees would make, would not a shift manager who just got raised to 70K have trouble with the burger flipper that also got raised as well to 70K ?
Don't get me wrong, I believe that our current minimum wages in the US should be more, but there is a huge difference IMHO in raising minimum level jobs to some standard vs what happened here. The owner was most generous, but I question if ALL that got to the 70K felt that they ALL deserved to be at the same level of pay. I know I have been raised in a pay for performance culture and perhaps that has jaded my interpretation of this whole thing.
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
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Re: Seattle boss raises entire company's minimum wage to $70,000
tennyson wrote:
Well, let's look at this in the perspective of let's say a McDonalds. Now if the owners decided that $70,000 was the minimum that all employees would make, would not a shift manager who just got raised to 70K have trouble with the burger flipper that also got raised as well to 70K ?
Don't get me wrong, I believe that our current minimum wages in the US should be more, but there is a huge difference IMHO in raising minimum level jobs to some standard vs what happened here. The owner was most generous, but I question if ALL that got to the 70K felt that they ALL deserved to be at the same level of pay. I know I have been raised in a pay for performance culture and perhaps that has jaded my interpretation of this whole thing.
Even on the McDonald's level, if a worker there is now making $11.00/hour after years of working there, and then they raise the minimum wage to $11.00/hour and all of the new hires are making what that person who has been there for years and worked their ass off to get, is that fair?
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Re: Seattle boss raises entire company's minimum wage to $70,000
Well, let's look at this in the perspective of let's say a McDonalds. Now if the owners decided that $70,000 was the minimum that all employees would make, would not a shift manager who just got raised to 70K have trouble with the burger flipper that also got raised as well to 70K ?
Don't get me wrong, I believe that our current minimum wages in the US should be more, but there is a huge difference IMHO in raising minimum level jobs to some standard vs what happened here. The owner was most generous, but I question if ALL that got to the 70K felt that they ALL deserved to be at the same level of pay. I know I have been raised in a pay for performance culture and perhaps that has jaded my interpretation of this whole thing.
Even on the McDonald's level, if a worker there is now making $11.00/hour after years of working there, and then they raise the minimum wage to $11.00/hour and all of the new hires are making what that person who has been there for years and worked their ass off to get, is that fair?
Don't know, but one thing for sure the current minimum wage is not a living wage.
My point, however, I believe goes way beyond minimum wage in addressing actual differences in skill levels and whether people should be rewarded equally for different levels of skills ( I am I know only assuming that is exactly what happened in the case posted here. Obviously I have no way of knowing)
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
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Re: Seattle boss raises entire company's minimum wage to $70,000
Well, let's look at this in the perspective of let's say a McDonalds. Now if the owners decided that $70,000 was the minimum that all employees would make, would not a shift manager who just got raised to 70K have trouble with the burger flipper that also got raised as well to 70K ?
Don't get me wrong, I believe that our current minimum wages in the US should be more, but there is a huge difference IMHO in raising minimum level jobs to some standard vs what happened here. The owner was most generous, but I question if ALL that got to the 70K felt that they ALL deserved to be at the same level of pay. I know I have been raised in a pay for performance culture and perhaps that has jaded my interpretation of this whole thing.
Even on the McDonald's level, if a worker there is now making $11.00/hour after years of working there, and then they raise the minimum wage to $11.00/hour and all of the new hires are making what that person who has been there for years and worked their ass off to get, is that fair?Don't know, but one thing for sure the current minimum wage is not a living wage.
My point, however, I believe goes way beyond minimum wage in addressing actual differences in skill levels and whether people should be rewarded equally for different levels of skills ( I am I know only assuming that is exactly what happened in the case posted here. Obviously I have no way of knowing)
I don't even know what a living wage is. I imagine a living wage varies wildly from a single person, no kids, living with their parents to a single person with 4 kids and a mortgage or rent. No one has ever been able to define 'living wage'.
But to your point, in the McDonald's example, someone with years of experience working there would most likely have a higher skill level than a new hire off the street.
Last edited by The Man (4/14/2015 8:41 pm)
- tennyson
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Re: Seattle boss raises entire company's minimum wage to $70,000
Even on the McDonald's level, if a worker there is now making $11.00/hour after years of working there, and then they raise the minimum wage to $11.00/hour and all of the new hires are making what that person who has been there for years and worked their ass off to get, is that fair?Don't know, but one thing for sure the current minimum wage is not a living wage.
My point, however, I believe goes way beyond minimum wage in addressing actual differences in skill levels and whether people should be rewarded equally for different levels of skills ( I am I know only assuming that is exactly what happened in the case posted here. Obviously I have no way of knowing)
I don't even know what a living wage is. I imagine a living wage varies wildly from a single person, no kids, living with their parents to a single person with 4 kids and a mortgage or rent. No one has ever been able to define 'living wage'.
But to your point, in the McDonald's example, someone with years of experience working there would most likely have a higher skill level than a new hire off the street.
Not so much. That is why it is so easy to train a new worker if they have any basic skills. As they say it is not rocket science. Unless you want to get into management and progress from there the skill level is pretty static once you get through basic training. Considering the turnover in most facilities like this the skill set has to be pretty basic right from the get go.
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"