So one of the perks of working at home is that I can take a long lunch and run an errand. Today it was Aldi, where they\u2019ve got a \u201cnow hiring\u201d sign with the starting wage posted: $13 an hour. So, in other words, they pay significantly higher than minimum wage for what is, in terms of the skills required, a minimum wage job. Now, I don\u2019t think they do this because they\u2019re a German-based company; I think that they want people who, even if, strictly speaking, are only required to operate a cash register and stock shelves, have the initiative to switch between the two tasks and use their time as productively as possible, rather than being dependent on a supervisor to constantly supervise them. <\/p>\n
But what happens if the minimum wage increases, say, not all the way to the agitated-for $15 an hour, but even just to $13 an hour.\u00a0 They they\u2019re paying minimum wage, and, if they keep their wages the same, would have\u00a0a hard time getting the most productive workers.\u00a0 Why bother, if the job at the store next door pays the same, and you can be a little lazier there?\u00a0\u00a0Now, if unemployment\u2019s high, then maybe there aren\u2019t enough low-effort minimum\u00a0wage jobs to go around, and\u00a0workers will be happy to take the high-effort jobs rather than be jobless.\u00a0 But it still seems like it would be rather challenging for the employer to make demands of employees, at a minimum wage level \u2014 which means that Aldi, and every other employer who\u00a0wants to differentiate themselves\u00a0as an \u201cabove-minimum\u00a0wage employer\u201d has to\u00a0raise their pay.\u00a0 Tell me how that doesn\u2019t lead to inflation and no net improvement for workers.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So one of the perks of working at home is that I can take a long lunch and run an errand. Today it was Aldi, where they\u2019ve got a \u201cnow hiring\u201d sign with the starting wage posted: $13 an hour. So, in other words, they pay significantly higher than minimum wage for what is, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n