Company Near Seattle Introduces $70K Minimum Wage

[August West]

As has been mentioned by LD and vision, this guy knows what he is doing. A small list of the reasons why,

A few reasons to invest in your employees

[vision63]

One thing is for sure now. He no longer has workers. He's got soldiers.

[Lux Interior]

Lemon Drop wrote: I don't get why everyone is taking this as some sort of universal rule that needs to apply everywhere

It's much easier to discredit the guy by extrapolating the situation universally and then using that to create a strawman.

[Lux Interior]

One downside I can think of is that some people may not have enough financial savvy to handle a sudden doubling of income.

Kind of like college athletes who go pro and suddenly find themselves with millions but end up in debt, but on a smaller scale.

[sekker]

Lux Interior wrote:
[quote=Lemon Drop]I don't get why everyone is taking this as some sort of universal rule that needs to apply everywhere

It's much easier to discredit the guy by extrapolating the situation universally and then using that to create a strawman.
I think there are some legitimate views - one is that $70k/year is a viable minimum payline for professionals in this country.

I do not criticize this company or its boss.

But to try to extrapolate that this is a viable example of a minimum wage for professionals - which I've seen posted by many - is simply ignorant. And represents poorly on America in general.

$70k/year represents more money in other countries than many Science Directors earn.

[M A V I C]

People should be paid based on the value that their jobs provides for the company. It has nothing to do with how "hard" someone works. In this case, the owner is going to find a way to make those jobs worth that much to the company. They will likely automate or outsource any necessary jobs that only produce $35k worth of value. Or they'll just have one person making $70k do two jobs. It will be interesting to see how it works out, if we ever get those insights.

FWIW "unlimited vacation" is becoming pretty common. My current job offers unlimited vacation.

billb wrote:
[quote=M A V I C]
Since when is Ballard "near Seattle"?

They'll probably try to convince you that West Seattle is near Seattle too.

I can see how that might confuse some people though.
I've heard that this city is unique in that when people who live her are asked where they live, they say the neighborhood, not the city. This is the first I've seen of the national news being confused by this.

[August West]

I've heard that this city is unique in that when people who live her are asked where they live, they say the neighborhood, not the city

I don't think that's unique, it's been fairly common in the places I've lived.

[rgG]

I still just see this as a "nice guy" act and nothing more.

What if your father owned a business and paid all his employees, who happened to be his kids or relatives, at least 70K a year, would that make their jobs actually worth 70K a year, or would it just be a nice thing for him to do, for his family? I see this guy treating his employees like his family, which is cool and all, but it probably won't help them get a like paying job, if they ever decide to leave and work for a business that is run like a business.

If he wants to make this more of a communal business where he shares his wealth with his employees, there is no one going to tell him he can't, but I don't see other places making 70K the minimum salary.

Also, if 70K is the magic number, and he is cutting his pay to that, not saying that is his full compensation because we don't know, how is it going to make those other employees that make more than 70K look? Does it make them look greedy or something?

[Pam]

rgG wrote:
I still just see this as a "nice guy" act and nothing more.

What if your father owned a business and paid all his employees, who happened to be his kids or relatives, at least 70K a year, would that make their jobs actually worth 70K a year, or would it just be a nice thing for him to do, for his family? I see this guy treating his employees like his family, which is cool and all, but it probably won't help them get a like paying job, if they ever decide to leave and work for a business that is run like a business.

If he wants to make this more of a communal business where he shares his wealth with his employees, there is no one going to tell him he can't, but I don't see other places making 70K the minimum salary.

Also, if 70K is the magic number, and he is cutting his pay to that, not saying that is his full compensation because we don't know, how is it going to make those other employees that make more than 70K look? Does it make them look greedy or something?

He said his salary will return to 1 mil as that's what it would take to hire someone to replace him.

[Lemon Drop]

This isn't charity, it's a smart business move. These employees will be more loyal and work harder than before, which will reap dividends for the company. I think this guy is very savvy about the future, and about the labor market he's in. We'll see how he's doing in 5 years.

“This is a capitalist solution to a social problem,” Price said. “I think it pays for itself, I really do.”