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Old 01-01-2012, 08:14 AM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,220 posts, read 80,386,269 times
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Effective today the minimum wage in Washington state is the highest in the nation at $9.04

Is that going to attract more low-pay workers to the state?

Will this cause small businesses to layoff people or let openings go unfilled?
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Old 01-01-2012, 08:39 AM
 
511 posts, read 2,445,191 times
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A State Minimum wage has no impact on the number of people hired because the employer if they are smart is always going to hire just the minimum number of people needed to get the job done. Hire less and the customers are not happy and the employer is hurt. Hire more and people don't have enough to do and are likely to spin their wheels in boredom and money is wasted.
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Old 01-01-2012, 10:28 AM
 
Location: Wheaton, Illinois
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Workaholic? View Post
A State Minimum wage has no impact on the number of people hired because the employer if they are smart is always going to hire just the minimum number of people needed to get the job done.

Indeed. I've never seen anyone standing around with his thumb up his ass at McDonalds or Burger King.
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Old 01-01-2012, 08:02 PM
 
Location: home state of Myrtle Beach!
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I just saw on the news today that San Francisco raised their minimum wage to $10.24.
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Old 01-01-2012, 08:05 PM
 
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It's possible that businesses will outsource the work across the border or just move where wages are lower.
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Old 01-01-2012, 08:21 PM
 
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I would bet that most of the jobs paying that low are in retail/customer service and not able to be outsourced.

Hard to have an Indian ring up your purchase at Target in the States.

Also something tells me that if another $80/week in wages will make a company move, they were going to do it anyway.
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Old 01-01-2012, 09:08 PM
 
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There's various types of minimum wage jobs that can easily be outsourced. Assembly factories, telemarketing, etc.

Last edited by NJBest; 01-01-2012 at 09:30 PM..
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Old 01-01-2012, 09:24 PM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,220 posts, read 80,386,269 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wheelsup View Post
I would bet that most of the jobs paying that low are in retail/customer service and not able to be outsourced.

Hard to have an Indian ring up your purchase at Target in the States.

Also something tells me that if another $80/week in wages will make a company move, they were going to do it anyway.
Probably true, besides cashiers there are maids in hotels, busboys, dishwashers, and more than cannot be outsourced. On the other hand, that $80/week is each, with 10 employees that's $3,200/month and that could be close to or more than the profit total at many small businesses.
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Old 01-01-2012, 09:34 PM
 
13,811 posts, read 27,339,688 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest View Post
There's various types of minimum wage jobs that can easily move. Assembly factories, telemarketing, etc.
Factories? Not many factories are paying min wage. If they are, they are relying on illegals.

Same goes for telemarketing. Very few pay min wage, quick Google search suggest roughly $12/hr as an average wage.

Something like 1% of all adults make min wage in the US. I made min wage, once, for 30 days in high school working at Pizza Hut. I found a job at Best Buy making $8 and went to my boss, the pay was matched. That was 1997.

Seen what min wage in Europe is? Still a ton of manufacturing there, especially in Germany. Lots of highly paid, highly unionized workers, and the country is a net exporter.
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Old 01-01-2012, 09:36 PM
 
13,811 posts, read 27,339,688 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemlock140 View Post
Probably true, besides cashiers there are maids in hotels, busboys, dishwashers, and more than cannot be outsourced. On the other hand, that $80/week is each, with 10 employees that's $3,200/month and that could be close to or more than the profit total at many small businesses.
Say it with me. If a 10 employee business is making $36,000 a year after expenses, they are already going out of business.

Same as in my industry. The big wigs come down to the union asking for pay cuts. We give it to them, then they award the amount of pay cut as a management bonus (no joke). In the early 2000's, at some companies, even if all labor worked for free the company was in the red by hundreds of millions a year.
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