Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation • Hacker News Board

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#681

Post by wombat-man » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 5:10 PM UTC

helen___keller wrote: post #522

wing-_-nuts wrote: post #20

We had an all-hands meeting recently where we got to submit anonymous questions. One of the questions was 'with inflation rising at 6%, will the company reconsider their 'standard' 2% raise?' The lady answering looks dead in the camera and goes 'Honestly? No' and goes on to talk about how we're reasonably competitive with the local market. Hey, credit where credit is due, at least she was a refreshingly straight shoo…

I worked for a midsize tech company until recently. At the end of 2020, I did well on my annual performance review but did not see a compensation increase. In the 2021 mid cycle review, I got a promotion to the next level and saw about a 7% compensation increase. At every all-hands since late 2020, the topic of attrition and comp comes up. Every time, the response was that they're keeping an eye on local market condi…

yeah when they say they're "keeping an eye..." they're probably just waiting for attrition to get bad enough. You did the right thing for your old coworkers. Perhaps your departure and others will lead them to reconsider their position.

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#682

Post by throwawayboise » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 5:13 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#683

Post by VoodooJuJu » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 5:15 PM UTC

dan-robertson wrote: post #276

Gareth321 wrote: post #250

Real wages have been flat since the 1970s ( https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us... ). "Okay, so people's living standards are about the same since 1970?" Not even close. The problem with inflation is that its calculation is fraught with all kinds of selective weighting, bias, and politics. Take a look at the relative differences between the things which have decreased and increased in cost in…

> most Americans are significantly worse off since the 1970s I think this is obviously false and hurts the credibility of the rest of this comment. There are many pitfalls with measuring long-term inflation. How much did an internet connection cost in the 1970s? What about a computer? What about a smartphone? These modern technologies make peoples lives much better and were somewhere between impossible and impossibly…

> How much did an internet connection cost in the 1970s? What about a computer? What about a smartphone? These modern technologies make peoples lives much better

Completely ridiculous. I don't need internet or smartphones to live and they don't make my life better. I need food, shelter, and some transportation, and the point is: these things have become much more difficult to afford each year since 1970.

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#684

Post by herbstein » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 5:16 PM UTC

gruez wrote: post #664

ModernMech wrote: post #641

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> making it more likely people will fight within the bounds of the existing political system. You are aware there was a violent disruption to the peaceful transfer of power last year, right? Since then, predicated on lies, partisans have changed the system to give political parties full control of election results; and the January 6th Committee has essentially uncovered and extensive coup plot that spans the White Ho…

>You are aware there was a violent disruption to the peaceful transfer of power last year, right? Since A bunch of rioters doesn't really say much about the whole country erupting into revolution.

> A bunch of rioters doesn't really say much about the whole country erupting into revolution.

Uhm...

>> the January 6th Committee has essentially uncovered and extensive coup plot that spans the White House, DOJ, and DoD

That's a bit more than just "a bunch of rioters"..

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#685

Post by skinkestek » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 5:18 PM UTC

Jochim wrote: post #497

skinkestek wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not unionized[1], but this is something I'd accuse unions of. [1]: because no uninon ever manages to not try to meddle in international politics. Gandalf in LOTR had it right: he did not want power because he knew he would be tempted to try to do a lot of good things.

This sounds like you're arguing workers should leave things to their "betters"...

I'm missing a "not" somewhere in there.

The way it stands the downvotes are deserved.

I'm personally not unionized but this is not something I would accuse the union of ;-)

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#686

Post by halfmatthalfcat » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 5:19 PM UTC

klyrs wrote: post #625

rspeele wrote: post #620

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest gun manufacturer you can buy stock in is Ruger (RGR) with a market cap of 1.17B. Add Smith & Wesson and you're at 2B. Throw in Vista Outdoors which owns many of the top US ammo brands (plus some minor firearm and accessory brands) and you can get the total up to 4.3B. I'll multiply that by 10 to guesstimate privately held companies, local gun stores, and the rest of the long tail. So let's say we're at $4…

Yeah, that's weird in perspective. Snapchat's valuation doesn't give them buying power, but Apple has nearly 200B cash on hand -- they could theoretically buy and close down all of these manufacturers and test the hypothesis that Big Gun is causing all the shootings.

Theoretically, could Apple buy S&W and…just shut it down? Would the government allow it? Curious…

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#687

Post by pengwing » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 5:20 PM UTC

Simply looking at inflation and wages is sufficient to detect the problem, but not to solve it. An increase in wages is always limited by an increase in worker productivity.

GDP per hour worked increased by 1-2% yearly. ( https://data.oecd.org/lprdty/gdp-per-hour-worked.htm ) To increase wages, increase productivity.

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#688

Post by fundad » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 5:21 PM UTC

redisman wrote: post #636

chrisseaton wrote: post #528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in-demand model took weeks or months while other cars sit on lots. America's model of making a bunch of random models and shipping them out to sit on lots in the hope someone wants that model is bizarre. In most other countries you order exactly what you want and they build it.

That’s what I did with my new car just a few weeks ago (Ford). Built and ordered online. People like shopping in person so it makes sense to have that “mall” like experience. And having the car available to test drive on the spot must make for more sales

Not all dealerships let you order the trim you want, even if it's ok to sell in your state.

Chrysler pulled this on me so I substituted the good with one from another maker. Months later Chrysler called with all trims magically available. This was well before the panorama but during the trade war.

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#689

Post by subsubzero » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 5:21 PM UTC

Gareth321 wrote: post #250

Real wages have been flat since the 1970s ( https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us... ). "Okay, so people's living standards are about the same since 1970?" Not even close. The problem with inflation is that its calculation is fraught with all kinds of selective weighting, bias, and politics. Take a look at the relative differences between the things which have decreased and increased in cost in…

Honestly I do not know how people are getting by given the cost of everything has gotten dramatically more expensive the past few years. In southern California gas is $5 a gallon, groceries usually are $200-300 a week for three people. Housing is beyond insane, every single family house in our city is now above $1M(you could find dozens of houses in the $800k-900k range a year and a half ago). This is not sustainable and I don't know what the final outcome will be but it won't be pretty.

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#690

Post by nradov » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 5:23 PM UTC

krapp wrote: post #631

rspeele wrote: post #620

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest gun manufacturer you can buy stock in is Ruger (RGR) with a market cap of 1.17B. Add Smith & Wesson and you're at 2B. Throw in Vista Outdoors which owns many of the top US ammo brands (plus some minor firearm and accessory brands) and you can get the total up to 4.3B. I'll multiply that by 10 to guesstimate privately held companies, local gun stores, and the rest of the long tail. So let's say we're at $4…

>Isn't that kind of podunk scale for an industry to have a rock solid hold on US politics? Not when a Constitutional Amendment makes that industry "too big to fail" because its thesis on the necessity of the right to keep and bear arms depends on there being an industry manufacturing arms to begin with (at least at modern scale,) and when the industry overwhelmingly supports one political party, driving animosity wit…

The individual right to keep and bear arms is a natural right of all free people. It doesn't depend on the existence of the small arms industry. When the US Constitution was written there was hardly even an industry; most firearms were craft built.