Post #4360558

2026-08-03 16:22 UTC

Minimum wage is not "competitive pay". In the US, the federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr. I could have based my company in another city, in another state, and legally paid my employees $7.25/hr. It would not be a competitive wage. In Seattle, the minimum wage is $21.30. I could legally pay my Seattle employees $21.30/hr. It would not be a competitive wage. In Washington State, we are not legally required to compensate employees for the use of their vehicle on company time. I could pay my employees nothing for the use of their vehicles on company time. It would not be a competitive wage. Instead, every employee of my company starts at $33.00/hr minimum, plus mileage compensation at 72.5¢/mile driven while on company time, with some employees making as high as $46.00/hr plus mileage compensation. That's a competitive wage. If you run a business where you are struggling to find and retain employees, and are not paying a competitive wage...that's why.

Replies (3)

@grumble209@kolektiva.social 2026-08-03 17:41

@Lana@beige.party Once, I was a manager at a major defense company. I was clicking through a file share full of HR stuff and came across a folder full of regional salary / benefit surveys. Every year, for every major location, HR bought a survey of pay/compensation for standardized job titles in that area to help them figure out what to pay employees. The eye opener for me was that the company policy was explicitly to pay about 90% of the market rate for engineers, but offer slightly above average benefits like FSA matching and stock purchase plans. At that point, it became obvious why I was having such a hard time attracting good engineer candidates. This sort of assholery is not random - it's carefully planned and was the official policy of the company. It must have been a coincidence that a different policy was to annually have the corporate anti-union guy fly to our site and train the managers on how to spot union activities.

Open ##4365981
@HollieK72@mastodonapp.uk 2026-08-03 17:18

@Lana@beige.party Companies: No one wants to work anymore. People: Not for bad wages, they don't.

Open ##4368809
@WellsiteGeo@masto.ai 2026-08-03 20:15

@Lana@beige.party This is why an educated workforce is a deeply double-edged sword for the business (people exploiting) class.

Open ##4368812