S. F. bookstore closes. Why? Minimum wages.

[DJofSD]

Originally Posted by Robert Goren

That is can be true. Although incompetence almost flows from the top down.

And excellence starts at the bottom, right? All bad at the top, all good at the bottom?

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

Behind every bad employee, there is a bad manager...and behind every bad manager, there is a bad boss. In business...everyone has to carry his load.

So I guess they're all victims.

[horses4courses]

Originally Posted by DJofSD

And excellence starts at the bottom, right? All bad at the top, all good at the bottom?

Who hires those at the bottom?
If they took more time in the interviewing process,
made some educated decisions, instead of hiring the first
warm body that walks in the door, they might get
a larger number of competent - even good - employees.

The hiring process is never going to be fool proof.
It could be much better, though.

[DJofSD]

I thank God I never had to interview and hire for non-technical positions.

[Tom]

The hiring process is never going to be fool proof.
It could be much better, though.

So you agree many of these people are not worth a higher minimum wage.

[horses4courses]

Originally Posted by Tom

So you agree many of these people are not worth a higher minimum wage.

No, I don't.
Not sure how you deduced that, Sherlock, but whatever.

[Tom]

Who hires those at the bottom?
If they took more time in the interviewing process,
made some educated decisions, instead of hiring the first
warm body that walks in the door, they might get
a larger number of competent - even good - employees.

Sounds like you have a low opinion of bottom level workers.
And yet you want to increase their pay.

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by horses4courses

Who hires those at the bottom?
If they took more time in the interviewing process,
made some educated decisions, instead of hiring the first
warm body that walks in the door, they might get
a larger number of competent - even good - employees.

The hiring process is never going to be fool proof.
It could be much better, though.

You are so out of touch. How many have you hired in the last year?

My wife and I hire at "the bottom" and try to prop up "the bottom" every week. If you knew what was out there......

[DJofSD]

Tom, I think that's called OPM.

[Robert Goren]

Originally Posted by DJofSD

And excellence starts at the bottom, right? All bad at the top, all good at the bottom?

If it is bad at top, it does not matter what is at the bottom.

[DJofSD]

Originally Posted by Robert Goren

If it is bad at top, it does not matter what is at the bottom.

Of course the private sector is guilty as charged but the public sector and it's politicians are exempt.

[Robert Fischer]

The market does a pretty job with determining worth.

In general, wages across the board for nearly everyone(low class, and upper-lower class, and lower-middle class, and middle-class, and even upper-middle-class) are relatively low.

This isn't anything nefarious from the people in power, it's simply the natural way that power works.

What is a "minimum wage"?
A minimum wage is an artificial protection for the lower class. The leverage that the employers have is so great, that as a society we've come to agree that the lower class needs this artificial protection or they could be made to work for almost nothing, and some people would feel sympathy seeing lower-class people working for almost nothing.

So any time you see a minimum wage, that's what it is. It's very low. It's an artificial protection for the lower class so that they will not be so exploited that it will make others uneasy.

Even when the cost of living is higher in certain places and the raw number is a bit higher, it's always a small amount.

[Clocker]

Originally Posted by Tom

Sounds like you have a low opinion of bottom level workers.
And yet you want to increase their pay.

Those at the bottom are not capable of making their own decisions and don't know what is good for them. So Big Brother has to step in to help them, to protect them from the rich, evil bastages that they work for, and to make sure that they are paid a living wage.

In reality, minimum wage workers are generally able to function on their own. And the idea of a huge class of starving families is absurd. According to Pew Research, over half of minimum wage earners are 16-24 years old. And 64% of them are part time workers. Also, about 2/3 of minimum wage workers are making more than that within a year, either through raises or moving on to better jobs.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...-minimum-wage/

[Robert Goren]

If it is good at the top, the top make sure it is good at the bottom. Unfortunately there is a lot of not too bad, but not good either at all levels of a lot of companies.

[Robert Goren]

Originally Posted by DJofSD

Of course the private sector is guilty as charged but the public sector and it's politicians are exempt.

I never said that. But in fairness, I have found some good people in the public sector. Then again there some real stinkers too. Most are just trying to survive in an outdate bad system doing their job as best they can without getting to too much trouble. Every time I hear some body complian about a low level employee, I think of a guard of an exit at Aksarben who was being chew up side and down by some one who was trying to get back in without a hand stamp. Just about minute before the irrate customer arrived, the guard had been told by his boss that if let any person in without a stamp, he would be fired. The boss also made it very clear he did not want to called either when somebody was angry because he could not get in. The poor guard just had to take it. I imagined that it took every bit of self control to keep from going off on the customer who knew that he needed a stamp to get back in. That is why I always gave my employees an out. I told them to tell the customers that I was greedy and arrogant and an idiot. Everybody can relate to having a fool for a boss. I figured I was getting paid to take the heat. A guy making minimum wage should not get yelled for things they have no control over.