Minimum Rage

There is an argument out there that minimum wage jobs are meant for teens and others entering the work force. Perhaps there is some merit to that but the issue is that employers will pay as close to the minimum—even for jobs that require a degree of skill—as possible. I offer my experience as evidence: The minimum wage in California is currently $16 per hour. As I explained in a previous blog there is no way I can live off that. No problem, right? I have experience including past jobs where I was a supervisor. What do you think a shift leader or supervisor should get in California? A job like that should be worth a few dollars more than minimum per hour, right? What I have found during this round of job searches is that employers are looking to pay an average of $18 for assistant managers in retail. All of you who have worked as supervisors and assistant managers understand the responsibility that comes with such a position—do you think $18 per hour is fair?

It isn’t fair but it is the current state of employment….until April 1.  On that day, employees who work in the fast food industry will be guaranteed $20 per hour. The more I think about this new law the more I believe it will drastically change employment here in California. For one thing, teens and others entering the work force will be competing for work with people who have restaurant experience; staff at Chilis and Denny’s etc. who make $17-18 will find the $20 at McDonalds enticing. So, these sit down restaurants will struggle with employee retention—what do they do? If they lower hiring standards they get lower quality employees and the quality of their food and service goes down and their reviews get worse. That would be industry suicide so I don’t imagine they’d follow that strategy. But, if they offer $20 per hour this huge increase in payroll cuts deeply into their profits. Ah, but what if they offered $20 to compete and balanced it by cutting full time positions and paid time off? What if, for the remaining full time employees, they stopped subsidizing medical benefits? That could happen. And it’s not just sit down restaurants that will lose staff to Burger King and Taco Bell, it’s every auto parts store and shop that currently pays $16-17 per hour. My guess is that wages will increase for everyone, but full time jobs will become rarer and benefits even more scarce.

We need a minimum wage increase, not just for the entry level positions but for the semi-skilled professions. If you apply for a Target or a Wal Mart gig, you are competing for those opening with people who have at least some work experience. My belief is that the minimum wage needs to rise for everyone here in California, how about $18? If you bumped everyone two dollars per hour you wouldn’t face the situation California faces in two months, workers bailing on their jobs to go work in fast food.