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Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

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Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#81
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you want a raise the best thing you can do is find a new job. Note that this doesn't always even involve taking it. Go get a job offer that pays better and bring it to your boss. If they want to match it, great. If they don't, bye.

From the other side, whenever a member of my team has come to me asking to match an offer I've always refused and wished them well in their new role. If someone is unhappy enough to start job hunting rather than talking to me then it's a clear sign that they'll leave soon regardless of any pay rise. Psychologically, every pay increase makes someone happy for a short time, and then they get used to it and they start t…

Nice trick to keep all the leftover washed-up people who would never dream of anything bigger and probably don't have the skills for it...

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#82
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you want a raise the best thing you can do is find a new job. Note that this doesn't always even involve taking it. Go get a job offer that pays better and bring it to your boss. If they want to match it, great. If they don't, bye.

From the other side, whenever a member of my team has come to me asking to match an offer I've always refused and wished them well in their new role. If someone is unhappy enough to start job hunting rather than talking to me then it's a clear sign that they'll leave soon regardless of any pay rise. Psychologically, every pay increase makes someone happy for a short time, and then they get used to it and they start t…

> If someone is unhappy enough to start job hunting

What makes you think people only go job hunting when they're unhappy? I consider it a moral obligation to seek out the best pay (after staying at a job long enough to justify my original hire and for the sake of my own resume) in order to do my small part to increase worker wages.

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#83
post #69

It's time for the butcher's bill over the silly corona restrictions, and none will ever connect the two to together.

Your statement is ambiguous. Are you saying some of the covid restrictions were silly, and should be removed, or are you saying all the restrictions were silly and should be removed?

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It never does. The first thing in the article is a graph where 7 our of the 11 years shown have positive real wage growth. If worker pay never kept up with inflation, the country would be among the world’s poorest.

How does that math work? > If worker pay never kept up with inflation, the country would be among the world’s poorest. That is flat wrong. Even if you were still making 23$ an hour as you did in the 70's: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/50-years-of-us-wages-... https://www.factcheck.org/2019/06/are-wages-rising-or-flat/ ...you'd still be among the top 20% of earners across the earth. Let's take another step do…

Also, your cherry picked date range has a complex story behind it. It’s a story of falling inequality, not rising inequality. Chinese workers (among others) ate our lunch…by climbing out of abject poverty. They’ve become much more competitive and have seen their real wages skyrocket. If semi-skilled American workers were making $23/hr and equivalent Chinese workers were making $.23/hr (idk making something up), and now American workers are still making the same but Chinese workers are making $12/hr, is that a bad outcome?

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#85

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…

It's foolish to raise by 6% across the whole company when most employees are too lazy to interview elsewhere. Whether or not employees are actually worth 6% more they should not have a problem finding a new job in this market (that will pay 6% more).

Sure just let the most motivated ones leave!

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#86
post #73
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the other side, whenever a member of my team has come to me asking to match an offer I've always refused and wished them well in their new role. If someone is unhappy enough to start job hunting rather than talking to me then it's a clear sign that they'll leave soon regardless of any pay rise. Psychologically, every pay increase makes someone happy for a short time, and then they get used to it and they start t…

Sounds like they're better off leaving, if that's your attitude.

Yes that’s probably correct. It may well be the best solution for both.

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#87
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you want a raise the best thing you can do is find a new job. Note that this doesn't always even involve taking it. Go get a job offer that pays better and bring it to your boss. If they want to match it, great. If they don't, bye.

From the other side, whenever a member of my team has come to me asking to match an offer I've always refused and wished them well in their new role. If someone is unhappy enough to start job hunting rather than talking to me then it's a clear sign that they'll leave soon regardless of any pay rise. Psychologically, every pay increase makes someone happy for a short time, and then they get used to it and they start t…

Interesting, as a manager I encourage my team to apply and bring me other offers. I will even help with some minor prep. If they come to me with a better offer I’ll take it to my leadership and show their worth.

If they fail, they know I cared enough to assist and trust me and are happy for their job. If they succeed they get a raise, but are more likely to stay and work harder knowing they can trust me and can collaborate.

I don’t see the downside in engaging in this manner.

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#88
post #43

Is it not rather that the inflation of the past 6-12 months has taken everyone by surprise, including employers, and the wages haven’t had time to adapt yet? What we don’t see in the article’s graph is that inflation used to be somewhat consistent but has risen sharply starting in March 2021: https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi

I am surprised that no one else is asking this.

Should we really expect wage gains to march inflation within six months?

Re: Worker pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

#90
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CPI includes housing as "Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (OER)". If that inspires confidence in anyone, please, I'd like to hear how.

Standard internet discourse. Numbers are bad - "See everyone, things are fucked. I told you so." (which is what this post is about) Numbers are good - "Meh, I never trust the underlying data anyways. It is all meaningless."

I was being a snark, but I would still genuinely like to hear why someone would feel confident in the method.
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