BofA Hike Minimum Wage to $21 and $25 by 2025
Reuters reports Bank of America Raises U.S. Minimum Hourly Wage to $21.
Bank of America Corp said on Wednesday it had raised its U.S. minimum hourly wage to $21, as it works to keep its promise of increasing the pay to $25 an hour by 2025.
The $25 figure is higher than at competitors, and the second-largest U.S. bank has also asked its vendors to set a minimum wage of $15 an hour.
Walmart Corp, Starbucks Corp, Amazon.com Inc and CVS Health have raised or are planning to hike wages.
The current minimum wage at the federal level is $7.25 per hour, enacted more than a decade ago.
Amazon Minimum Wage
A big aid in the push for $15 started in October of 2018 when Amazon Ups Minimum Wage to $15 for All Employees Starting Nov 1
I commented, “Amazon unilaterally upped its minimum wage, even for part-time workers. Now it wants every company to do the same.”
On May 13, 2021, I noted Amazon is Hiring 17,000 With $1,000 Signing Bonus at $17 an Hour
Battle for $15 Has Mostly Been Won
On May 19, 2021 I commented It Took Nearly 10 Years, But the Battle for $15 Has Mostly Been Won
One of my readers accurately commented “It took so long that it really isn’t a raise.“
Is Discussing Salaries With Co-Workers a Good Idea?
In case you missed it, please consider Is Discussing Salaries With Co-Workers a Good Idea?
If you want bigger raises, and can handle the information, I suggest it’s a good idea.
Mish Anecdotes
In July and again last week I was Colorado on wildflower and Autumn photo shoots.
There were help wanted signs everywhere. The hotel we stayed at in July went to automated check in.
You insert your driver’s license and it spit out room keys. It’s a good thing a person was there to handle things because the keyosk would not take my license.
The problem? I booked under “Mike” but my driver’s license said “Michael”. Such kinks will be worked out.
On the Autumn trip, a restaurant we went to for breakfast sandwiches was closed because people did not show up for work. Lines were impossibly long at other for the same reason.
On the July trip, we ordered a pizza and was told it would take 45 minutes. It took 2 hours. The manager apologized but said they just could not get the help they need.
Even locally, in St. George, population 95,000, there are often lines to get into restaurants even though you can see many open tables.
There are not enough servers to wait on people so restaurants make you stand outside, rather than sit inside unattended. This happens more often than not.
Anecdotes do not constitute data, but this has been going on so long now, I bet it is widespread.
Impact on Small Businesses
I suspect small family owned businesses are getting killed by spiraling wages hikes and supply chain disruptions.
Big outfits can last a long time by issuing debt. But a local pizza place offing $10.00 an hour cannot do the same thing, nor do smaller businesses have the purchasing power of a national chain.
What About Attitudes?
There is a huge attitude difference between Boomers and Zoomers. The former generally had a work ethic of do whatever it takes no matter how long it takes. In contrast, Generation Z does not want to work even 40 hours.
Those are generalizations, of course. Everyone does not neatly fit into the same slot.
Yet, the generalizations coupled with lack of skills explain the severe work shortages we see.
And who wants to work for $10 an hour if unemployment pays nearly as much if not more.
New Battle Cry
The new battle cry will soon be, assuming it’s not already “$25 by 2025” .
Well good luck to small businesses.
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Mish
So, small businesses and working class folks! When are you going to join forces?
-Don’t work for peanuts
We went through many years of wage growth so weak that it didn’t
keep up with inflation and many just took it for granted that that was going to
last forever. Previous president and a presidential candidate even said
“get used to it”. Before covid we were at close to full employment
yet wage growth was still sluggish because of inertia and habit. Covid broke
that torpor. Suddenly for medical reasons many didn’t have to work but more
importantly those who were able to work found that for the first time in their
memory their labor gave them bargaining power. The stimulus enhanced that
power. Enough people decided to retire or stay home with the kids or whatever
that employers found themselves also for the first time in memory having to go
through extraordinary measures to get people to work for them and there is not
one thing they can do about it except throw the economy into a deep recession.
However doing that is fraught with danger in this climate. They will just have
to suck it up and pay up and wait for things to settle down with wages at a
new, higher equilibrium.
No offense Eddie but I refuse to see a hygienist when my dental plan pays to see a dentist. This like going to see a PA or Nurse practitioner when your paying to see a doctor. I love my dentist and I’m glad she has a practice where she deals with all patients directly on every visit. I tried switching to a practice closer to home but they missed so many things my regular dentist caught.
people and how much you pay our teammates who are talented to drive the business, that’s driven by how
many people. And we just had a — we have been working our way down in headcount, and it then froze
because of all the work we had to do around the pandemic-related programs. But now it’s dropped by 1% in
the quarter, and that’s where it pays back”
The elimination of small business is one of the main goals of progressiviism. The state and its academic and media apologists are so skilled at generating propaganda in support of their schemes that Americans are mostly unaware of the dire threat they pose for the future of freedom. See Italian Corporatism as their model for the economy.
link to rollingstone.com