Employers are Paying More, But is it Enough?

• Author: Michael Bordonada
• Posted: 2024-05-18

For many decades now in America, different politicians and a huge portion of the populous have been asking for higher wages from companies. Especially when it comes to multi-billion-dollar corporations like Walmart, Target and Amazon, workers insist that they're being paid too little for too much work. Politicians like Bernie Sanders have developed a "Fight for 15" campaign, demanding that retail companies pay their workers $15 as a minimum wage to start. Now that it's late in the year of 2021, there's something going on with this campaign that has really stalled out. Most retailers are paying their workers more, though they still cannot afford to live. The idea of a 'living wage' has long been nebulous; more like a political platitude. Though for people struggling, all they know is that they need more.

Whatever that 'living wage' is for one person may be different for another. The only thing that seems to be a certainty is that fewer people are making a living wage now than ever before. Even with employees being paid more, the fact is that the rest of the economy has adjusted around that, so today's $15 per hour is the equivalent of $5 an hour only 20 years ago. That's an amazing devaluation of the US Dollar, and it's something no corporation can possibly keep up with and still be in business.

So, what is the answer? Well, the first half of the equation has been handled by a lot of retailers in the country. What the politicians promised the population would happen once they got paid more is another story entirely, however.

Retail Wages are Up

Most retail wages in America are in fact up this year. This has happened for two reasons. First and foremost, these big retail chains had record years in 2020. They had record years because (a) the government shut down 80% of small businesses, which means that these retailers didn't have any competition and people were basically forced to shop with them; and (b) the government paying out so much unemployment and giving away stimulus checks that mainly went to these places. So a few corporations started paying their employees more to keep them around because they were doing record business.

The other reason that some corporations upped their pay is because employees were walking out and many were refusing to work for just barely over minimum wage. This is why places like Walmart, Target, Amazon, Apple, and other corporations started paying a minimum of $15 an hour in 2021. In many ways, they were forced to compete with what government was giving away to people, if they wanted employees.

Inflation is Still Too High

So, it's one thing for corporations to be paying more; though it's another entirely to have that higher pay not make that much of a difference at all. People who were making around $9 an hour three years ago find that their $15 an hour now has about the same spending power. What this means is that the cost of living is so incredibly high around America now that the $15 an hour isn't really making much of a difference. With groceries up over 30%, fuel up over 50% in some places, and prices going up on mortgages, insurance, and all sorts of other necessities, a little more money per week is not helping to ease these really serious issues.

Go-Nowhere Jobs

Then you have to factor in that many of these jobs are dead-end, go-nowhere jobs for people. Sure, it's a good thing to some that they can start stocking shelves or loading up groceries into a pick-up cart and make more money. Though where is this job heading? Most people are never going to be promoted through the ranks. Most people are just basic drones who are there to fill a spot. And people are starting to realize this now. They understand that they're just a placeholder to help the company profit, and there is no hope of any sort of profit share, and probably not even a raise. This is causing many to abstain from working, despite making more money.

The sad fact of the matter is that as long as inflation keeps causing the cost of living to skyrocket through the roof, there's really not enough that employers can pay out to ease this pain while still themselves turning a profit.