On the contrary - xx Posted: May 26th, 2016 - 8:01 am In Reply to: People are not a cost to be replaced. - Tired
people are generally the biggest expense a business has. Businesses do not exist to provide incomes for workers. They exist to produce profits by providing goods or services. They are not charities.
If businesses are required to pay labor more than the value labor adds to the bottom line, businesses are going to find ways to reduce the number of people they have to employ.
"Just raise prices" is not a solution. Raising prices increases everyone's cost of living, including the beneficiaries of an artificially high minimum wage, so any benefit is soon wiped out. Prices can be raised only so far before people stop buying. Then the business ceases to exist along with its jobs. Before that happens, the business is going to find ways to reduce expenses and remain profitable, and that will mean investing in automation that eliminates the need for overpriced unskilled labor.
People who want to be paid more need to acquire higher-level skills that will add value. Requiring businesses to pay unskilled or minimally skilled people more than the value of their labor will simply accelerate the development of automated systems to replace unskilled and low-skilled jobs. Of course, that will increase the number of jobs for designers and builders of automated systems, but those jobs will require skills.
The best way for low-paid workers to improve their lot is to acquire actual skills that are in demand and add value.
Post A Reply Reply By Email Options
Complete Discussion Below: (  marks the location of current message within thread)
|
