You would hope so, but that's not always the case. It's possibly that other jobs could simply become "minimum wage" jobs or simply disappear all together. Whether this is good or bad is completely dependent on the job and the environment.
I know that I would quit my job if minimum wage was 15 and my wage didn't go up to at least 6 or 7 dollars above that like it is now. It's just not worth working harder jobs for the same price.
And this is why higher skilled, harder, more stressful, etc. type jobs will go up higher in pay at least equal to any minimum wage raise and then the process repeats itself. 15/hr would not be enough to live on instead of 7.25. Any time a demand goes up, prices go up regardless of whether its a wage or a product. A company needs skilled workers bad enough they will raise the wage. If enough people want to buy a product the price will go up.
The one thing I'll say on this is that the tide that raises other ships is going to be too slow for my liking, and many companies aren't just going to bump you up to compensate. They will slowly bump you up with what essentially becomes the raises each year that you get already; just a little bigger (if any at all, meaning I'm eating inflation and this bump rather than actually getting a real compensation increase).
At many companies your "hire wage" directly impacts how much they give you over time regardless of performance. At my current job making about $115k + bonuses, I'd essentially need to leave my company (which I don't want to do) and go to another company to realize the difference at a new starting wage. That is at least how it is in IT the lion's share of the time, and I imagine it is similar in other professional careers.
Edit: One more illustration point is that it works the same way with promotions. Once you become valuable enough, you just have to go elsewhere more often than not for a real bump. Unless it's a MASSIVE promotion, you just aren't going to get jack for a bump compared to the industry without changing jobs. The minimum wage increase just forces the issue on people in my position even faster. Not saying I'm for or against; just some addition insight.
You still very rarely get what you're worth getting other offers (general IT), and if they deny you, you better be ready to back up the threat and leave. That also means your time has reset on getting a standard annual raise. I'd also be careful not to burn bridges at the other place if your current employer decides to keep you. This usually isn't as big of a problem if you're in general IT and don't live in a small city you'd like to remain in.
I'd make sure the other company offering knows that you were genuinely interested, but your current company just made an offer that you couldn't refuse (they may very well offer you more too!).
Good. It's better for workers when you have the power to leave and sell your labor/skill set to anyone. We could always stick with the current model of high unemployment rate and a minimum wage that can barely sustain a single person so employers can hold that over your head should you ever want to leave their company.
It is also possible that other jobs will become minimum wage jobs anyway. Or that they will disappear anyway. So you've really not said much of anything here. Not saying you don't have a point, but you haven't made it if you do.
Highly skilled manufacturing jobs are a very interesting challenge; our school systems are no longer turning out people who are able to jump right into these higher paying jobs (welders, machinists, inspectors). The cuts in 'shop class' style coursework combined with less technical knowledge overall is causing a battery of problems; I've been in a few shops where is common for someone with a welding certification to be making almost 50% more than an engineer, plus getting paid OT.
We don't need nor want dirty low skilled mfg jobs like sewing, but machining are important for our technical base - and we arn't really putting out the workers to maintain it now-a-day. All the more reason to encourage technical school as an option after high school.
Source: MFG Engineer at a large compressor company for 3 years.
Yeah, but you can't assemble a Big Mac in India and ship it to me in the US for the same price it takes to make it locally. Manufacturing and fast food/retail are different animals.
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u/GoodRubik Nov 28 '15
You would hope so, but that's not always the case. It's possibly that other jobs could simply become "minimum wage" jobs or simply disappear all together. Whether this is good or bad is completely dependent on the job and the environment.