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CEO Hikes Minimum Wage To $70K, Capitalist Tragicomedy Ensues
Meet 31-year-old Dan Price.
Dan is the CEO of Seattle-based credit card payments processing firm Gravity Payments, and three months ago, he did a funny thing.
After talking with a friend who confessed to having difficulties making student loan payments and rent each month on an annual salary of $40,000, Dan decided to set a $70,000 per year pay floor at Gravity.
Dan was not, The New York Times says, looking to insert himself into "the current political clamor over low wages or the growing gap between rich and poor." All he wanted to do was improve the lives of the 120 or so people who worked for him and after reviewing some literature on the subject, he decided that $70,000 was the level at which workers start to experience "an enormous difference in [their] emotional well-being."
Predictably, the initial response to the new policy was quite positive. Here’s The Times:
Talk show hosts lined up to interview Mr. Price. Job seekers by the thousands sent in résumés. He was called a "thought leader." Harvard business professors flew out to conduct a case study. Third graders wrote him thank-you notes. Single women wanted to date him.
But even as Dan adjusted to life as a rebel hero and basked in his newfound popularity among third graders and single women, he quickly learned that whether he liked it or not, he had waded waist deep into the minimum wage debate and he would soon discover a few very hard lessons about the unintended consequences of hiking the pay floor.
First, some employees felt it wasn’t fair to indiscriminately give everyone a raise. That is, some felt Gravity should at least pay lip service to the notion that there's a connection between higher pay and performance and because the new pay plan didn't seem to acknowledge that link, the company lost some workers.
Two of Mr. Price’s most valued employees quit, spurred in part by their view that it was unfair to double the pay of some new hires while the longest-serving staff members got small or no raises. Some friends and associates in Seattle’s close-knit entrepreneurial network were also piqued that Mr. Price’s action made them look stingy in front of their own employees.
Maisey McMaster was also one of the believers. Now 26, she joined the company five years ago and worked her way up to financial manager, putting in long hours that left little time for her husband and extended family. "There’s a special culture," where people "work hard and play hard," she said. "I love everyone there."
She helped calculate whether the firm could afford to gradually raise everyone’s salary to $70,000 over a three-year period, and was initially swept up in the excitement. But the more she thought about it, the more the details gnawed at her.
"He gave raises to people who have the least skills and are the least equipped to do the job, and the ones who were taking on the most didn’t get much of a bump," she said. To her, a fairer proposal would have been to give smaller increases with the opportunity to earn a future raise with more experience.
A couple of days after the announcement, she decided to talk to Mr. Price.
"He treated me as if I was being selfish and only thinking about myself," she said. "That really hurt me. I was talking about not only me, but about everyone in my position."
Already approaching burnout from the relentless pace, she decided to quit.
Next, Gravity began to lose some of its long-standing customers and while the across-the-board pay raise won the company more than enough new business to make up the difference, the new accounts won’t be immediately accretive and in the meantime, Gravity has had to hire more people to service the new accounts and thanks to the new salary floor, all of those new employees will eventually have to be paid $70,000.
A few customers, dismayed by what they viewed as a political statement, withdrew their business. Others, anticipating a fee increase — despite repeated assurances to the contrary — also left. While dozens of new clients, inspired by Mr. Price’s announcement, were signing up, those accounts will not start paying off for at least another year. To handle the flood, he has already had to hire a dozen additional employees — now at a significantly higher cost — and is struggling to figure out whether more are needed without knowing for certain how long the bonanza will last.
Dan’s benevolence is also costing him friends in the business community where some say Gravity’s new pay floor will embolden minimum wage workers in their quest for higher pay.
Brian Canlis, a co-owner of his family-named restaurant, is also a client. He said he was fond of Mr. Price, but was more discomfited by his actions.
Mr. Canlis is already worried about how to deal with Seattle’s new minimum wage, which rose to $11 an hour in April and is scheduled to reach $15 an hour for small businesses within five years.
The pay raise at Gravity, Mr. Canlis told Mr. Price, "makes it harder for the rest of us."
Finally, Dan is now being sued by his older brother and as it turns out, Maisey McMaster had not included a "provision for legal fees in case my brother sues us" line item in the new budget, which means that ultimately, Gravity may have a hard time staying in business.
Less than two weeks after the announcement, Mr. Price’s older brother and Gravity co-founder, Lucas Price, citing longstanding differences, filed a lawsuit that potentially threatened the company’s very existence. With legal bills quickly mounting and most of his own paycheck and last year’s $2.2 million in profits plowed into the salary increases, Dan Price said, "We don’t have a margin of error to pay those legal fees."
Lucas Price owns about 30 percent of their company, although he has not actively been involved in day-to-day operations for several years. There had been tensions between the two long before the new pay plan, and Lucas is demanding that Dan buy him out for an unspecified amount, plus damages.
* * *
To be sure, there are number of lessons here and indeed, the Gravity story touches on several topics we've discussed at length over the last several months.
There's no question that surviving in America is becoming more difficult by the year for an alarmingly large subset of the population and part of the problem is anemic wage growth for 83% of the workforce. In fact, just last week the Department of Labor said the employment cost index notched a meager 0.2% increase in Q2 - that's the smallest quarterly gain since record keeping began in 1982.
Despite claims that this miserable data point was anomalous, this ECI print clearly suggests that for all the publicity around the minimum wage debate, and despite (or maybe even because of) the growing pressure on employers to raise the pay floor, wage growth is virtually non existent. Thus, across-the-board pay raises seem to be suffering from the QE paradox that's now playing out in Sweden - that is, the more you do it, the less effective it is and at a certain point, it even begins to undermine itself.
Meanwhile, easy access to credit has led to an explosion of student loan debt and yet that debt has created a preponderence of degreed job seekers. In other words, college degrees are now so common as to reduce their value for prospective employers which has had the unfortunate effect of transforming many college educated, would-be professionals into waiters and bartenders.
Needless to say, paying off $35,000 in student debt is tough when you're relying on tips to make ends meet and it's made all the more difficult by the fact that rents are soaring. With lenders still stinging from the collapse of the housing bubble, underwriting standards are still relatively tight (for homes anyway) which means, to quote WSJ, households are being squeezed "between rents they can't afford and homes they can't qualify for."
Meanwhile, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening materially on the back of Fed policy that, while ostensibly designed to rescue Main Street via the elusive "wealth effect", serves only to further enrich the wealthy by inflating the value of the assets most likely to be concentrated in the hands of those who were already rich in the first place.
Whether Dan Price realized it or not, his move to raise the pay floor at Gravity was destined to be seen as an emphatic reaction to each of these economic realities. But as we saw last week with WalMart, addressing the rise of class segregation and the disappearance of the American Middle Class by resorting to across-the-board pay raises comes with a long list of unintended consquences and as Tony Hsieh learned when he attempted to transition Zappos to a "bossless" corporate culture, predicting how employees will respond to what seem like unequivocally worker-friendly policies is quite difficult.
So while we wish Gravity the best of luck with the new pay structure, we fear that if anything, Dan Price's experience will serve as a cautionary tale to employers who may now think twice before embarking on one man crusades to address the nation's social and economic maladies and ultimately, if the company's very existence continues to be threatened by the fallout from the wage hike, Gravity's employees may soon find that the new pay floor is, like everything else in the world, subject to the law of... well, gravity.
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Got Fizz?
That's easy, the ones who are closer to those who print the money can send their children to medical school. Same as it is now.
Definition of selfish: your refusal to recognise my needs.
Definition of selfish: your refusal to recognise my demands, no matter how selfish, childish and unreasonable they are.
Wage increases are in a way a permanent decision you cannot back out of. He woukd have been better off giving bonuses at year end which would allow him to adjust his firm's position.
Profit sharing. An incentive to do good work and share in the reward. It's not complicated. Progrssives/liberals don't like performance related pay. Why? Because slackers can't benefit
stock options
A good idea executed poorly.
What was the good idea?
How to fuck over your brother for helping you start your business by investing in it.
"How to fuck over your brother for helping you start your business by investing in it. "
Do you think that Christmas is going to be a little awkward this year at their Mom's house?
I can't wait to see what these Dan and Luke put under the tree for one another....
A box of shit - Dan to Luke
A box of TNT-lit - Luke to Dan
Good deeds almost always get punished.
Nice thought but not thought through.
Huge disincentive for people already making $70,000. Those previously less paid were paid less because they had positions of less responsibility.
I know a guy who had 1,200 employees and found a way to give everyone an extra $1,000 when he sold the company. That money came out of his own pocket. The employees in this privately- owned insurance company were well paid and fiercely loyal to the owner. The business was voted the best place to work in New Jersey for like 6 straight years. The guy did sell it for $300 million to a giant insurance company and walked out the door a hero.
What he should have done was create a benefits package (education, medical, retirement) for all employees to access according to their need and ambition. Cleared with his partners first. He's going to have great tax write offs, maybe get some bail out skin off the backs of schlomo's slaves.
Well, the government probably didn't mind as it coffers get fatter when it has more to tax.
Those who can actually do the work expect to earn their pay.
Those who can not do the work expect "equality" in everything, including their pay.
The other thing that happened is that people like myself that actually worked hard all their lives and don't rely on handouts put this moron on a black list. His employees quit, sure, but even more so, customers cut him off.
Simply put, we have just stopped supporting all these nitwits.
We know longer buy anything from Apple, we won't support that left wing liberal socialist gravy train any longer.
Just for the record, we no longer do business with anyone in California. Oregon, Washinton, New York, New Jersey and Minnesota among others unless there is no other "supplier" or we know the owner to be worthy
We don't travel there either.
In the long run, it might be best for the whole east and west coast to either burn up or to fall into the ocean.
They think they are so entitled to handouts from the corrupt politicians but those days are numbered.
As far as I am concerned, they would be doing the world a favor if the majority of them would either drown or die of thirst.
Those of you still living there, why are you? Move out of those rat infested states if you can, no one is coming to save you.
Yeah, things were going so well before the uppity labor movement started making some gains this year ...
Z
Which uppity labor movement was that?
The one's that had their jobs outsourced to H1-B's at Disney, or the one's replaced by illegal immigrants acrpss the US.
Of course if you think nearly a hundred million people out of the labor force is a movement then........Obowelmovement would have to agree.
+1,000
I visit the states....hopefully never to live there again.
Even in Jamaica, I run into the droppings and shit-Western American fecal matter attitudes and crap.
Jamaicans are easy to handle. Leave them alone (cause you ain't understanding their fucked up culture), bar your windows and double lock your doors. No problem ~
Yeah, because it's the 'left wing liberal socialist gravy train' to blame for the US's ecomonic woes, not the Wall St. bankster global racketeering cabal. .
HOLY SHIT I HAD IT WRONG THIS WHOLE TIME
Thank you so, so much for setting us all straight on that one!
Yes!
You got it even though you stumbled onto the truth an an attempt at sarcasm.
Wall street is the final end game of a non-capitalist crony socialist pit.
WELCOME to AMERICA!!!
Squid
The "left wing liberal socialist gravy train" and the "Wall street bankster global racketeering cabal" go hand in hand.
"'left wing liberal socialist gravy train' to blame for the US's ecomonic woes, not the Wall St. bankster global racketeering cabal. . "
Government and the Banks = two sides of the same coin.
Don't be fooled by the differing appearances of the two sides because those are just pictures: I guarantee you it is ONE object that you are looking at...
...& no matter which way that coin comes up -heads or tails- YOU LOSE.
Supervisor to disgruntled employee:
I'd love to pay you what you're worth, but the minimum wage law has my hands tied.
Even if nuke was cheap it would still be a horrible choice, but it is not cheap, it has become incredibly expensive.
The true cost of new nuclear? Vogtle data used.
15 cents per kWH, and that ignores transmission, overhead, profit, and long term storage, accidents, death and disease.
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2015/08/what-is-real-kwh-cost-of-ne...
"Despite claims that this miserable data point was anomalous"
Looking at the chart, what appears to be anomalous, is the little jump, just before the dump, as the obvious trend is down. The miserable data point is catch up to the trend.
Why all the rhetoric? It is purely a business decision - albeit a little weird. Dan Price will either be really right or really wrong - time will tell.
You have the math skills of a First grader...
Looks like Dan has too.
Everybody thought the Amazon model was crazy when Bezos was selling books for less than cost. Hmmm ... and look who's laughing now.
And I will take your comment as a compliment. Where did all those PhD math geniuses get Long Term Capital Management?
"Where did all those PhD math geniuses get Long Term Capital Management? "
Those PhD math geniuses kept every penny they ever took outta LTCM and never paid it back or went to jail...
Heads THEY win and tails YOU lose sounds pretty genius to me.
Ah, but they could have made a lot more and, even more importantly, had their egos stroked a lot more, if their model had worked. Avoiding justice does not justify a model that failed miserably, and it certainly doesn't make you a genius; it makes you go AWOL for the rest of your life.
Notice that there is nothing wrong about the economics of raising his employees wages, it was the reaction of a savage society conditioned on Randian myopically narrow and supposed self-interest that is the problem.
Guy tries to do a good thing and the well trained herd come down on him.
The Herd doing the master's job for him. It's like the house slave resenting the fact that the field slave had their quota slightly reduced.
This is a feel good story for the Ruling Class, depressing for humanity.
Exactly. Nothing worse than stupid, selfish people. They fuck up things for everybody ... even themselves though they are too dumb to realize it.
Z
No it isn't.
Its the Soviet Union on a micro scale.
Why bust your ass for 60 hours a week if the pleb that puts in 37 gets the same pay?
What's the point?
Ol Billi-bob runnin this show is about to find that out.
Squid
"Why bust your ass for 60 hours a week if the pleb that puts in 37 gets the same pay?"
I guess you're the house slave, huh?
The road to bankruptcy is aways paved with unintended consequences. But this guy is building a superhighway.
If I was the company's CEO, I would secretely begin looking for a someone to buy my business. The day after it sold, I'd walk in to the office and say "FUCK Y'ALL" and walk right back out. Then I'd go buy a cool car or something.
The ol' "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." In the old book "The Promises Men Live By," the dedication stated ". . . that they would understand, so that they wouldn't make the world worse when trying to make it better."
This story reminds me of mid eighties. Eastern Airlines financials were soooo bad,, my boss made me drive to reagan national to pick up a check for services rendered. Imagine my shock upon seeing the fully uniformed pilots out front picketing for a pay increase...i laughed at the stupidity. few months later No pilots no eastern airlines ...go figure..
Only comment I have is this...
WHAT A FUCKING MORON!
ambition, great gas.
bitcoin or like block chain technology puts
them all out of work.
This guy is a weak Brad Pitt wannabe look-a-like.
I like our Brad Pitt better.
But the article says "single women wanted to date him"
"But the article says "single women wanted to date him" "
I'm willing to bet that some single men want to date him, too.
I wonder why THAT doesn't get mentioned in the newspapers.
OK, so Lucas is a parasite and should realize he is a parasite and should do something productive rather than destructive.
As for the rest, paradigms are difficult to get past. I am sure Dan did a good thing to realize that the government cost of living numbers are grossly (an understatement) understated, mostly because of the drain on society by the non-productive sectors, including: government, banking, insurance, legal crap, healthcare, media and educations.
We now pay the parasites more than the productive people and that is a signal of the end of society as we know it.
... and yes, Maisey, you were thinking only of yourself and should bee ashamed.
. . . and of course all those other employees were not only thinking of themselves.
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (Full Album)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f8R8rYHZ_Q
.
wish you were here, shine on you crazy diamond
and welcome to the machine.
.
the universe is founded on energy creation,
life is based on the recycling or exploitation
of that energy, the process creating new kinds
of energy to be further cycled, recycled and
exploited. horrible word that "exploited",
but, it is there.
.
in a meat eating culture, what is the essential difference
between a psychopathic monster and a fine chef?
.
there something to wonder on.
.
how to make the eating of flesh palatable
beyond belief?
welcome to the machine where the best and brightest
device technology that will be used to eliminate
their own relevance. idunnoanymore.........
It doesn't sound like anything really happened. This article is making a mountain out of a molehill to pander to a particular demographic.
I hate to break to to all the hard working office people out there, but all that paperwork is useless and puts you in the same parasite category as government workers. If you aren't actually making things you are a drain on resources that could be used elsewhere.
So I guess I should never RFP anything. I should just pay whatever my sales guy tells me to pay. It's just paperwork anyway. I didn't save like $5M a year making suppliers win my business. I didn't even push paperwork around. I just emailed 5 people and responded a few times, had a pdf sent to me, signed with my index finger, and shot it back. I'm such a drain on my company. I could have been picking my nose with that finger. Then at least I'd be making things and harvesting them.
Exactly. As a paper pusher you need to accept that your job is welfare for you and stop criticizing other people's welfare payments. You are on the Fascist Dole.
Folks, now here's a guy with a real aversion to doing paperwork.
So it really wasn't the $70,000 minimum salary,
it was the politicized coverage of the $70,000 minimum salary.
If Dan Price would have made the salary adjustment and kept his dumbass mouth shut,
everything might have worked out well.
Why publicize the internal machinations of any business?
What a dumbass.
"So it really wasn't the $70,000 minimum salary,
it was the politicized coverage of the $70,000 minimum salary. "
I support Dan's right to pay his employees what he wants to with HIS money and/or his portion of the proceeds of the business.
However, it is purported that at least 30% of the business is owned by someone else ( Dan's brother Luke ) who was either given no say in what was done or was ignored/over-ruled by Dan.
That/those co-owner(s) of the business have effectively been expropriated by Dan via this action.
I consider this to be unreasonable -and immoral.
Spend YOUR money as you wish; but, do not expropriate what belongs to others/myself.
It does not matter to me whether Dan took the money for himself, or used it to implement a peculiar pay structure either for the staded purpose or for the publicity it might produce, or simply gave it away to total strangers; but, it seems that 30% of what has been distributed/promised was not his money/property to give.
THAT is the sole and singular reason that I do not support Dan's actions.
70% > 30%. Don't feel sorry for anyone who makes those kind of choices for themselves and then whines about not having power later.
"70% > 30%. Don't feel sorry for anyone who makes those kind of choices for themselves and then whines about not having power later. "
Abuse of a position of power is always dispicable.
It doesn't matter if it is abuse of children, the elderly, the infirm, the unaware, the powerless, the less powerful, etc.
Might does not make right.
FUCK YOU for publicly supporting the abuse of power in any form.
THIS IS WHY people seek the protection of rackets like Religion and Government and Unionism.
-Which leads to Ridgid Ideology and Protected Monopoly, Taxations and Bureaucracies, Cartelization and Licensing/Censures...
THIS IS WHY there are arms races including Nuclear Arms Races.
...THE DAMNED ABUSE OF POWER.
well said
As is said, nice guy's finish last!...Let's just shut the door's, we'll all go on unemployment!
everybody happy?
Oh you unbelievers. Once Dan gets his Obamagrant and government contracts for trailblazing a new humanity everything will be hunky dory and Dan's true genius will be recognized.
Probably get a visit from Hilary too and all those fairweather customers will be sooo jealous.
The guys a loser who has a serious unmet need to be liked. Now everybody in his outfit is going to be out of a job soon because of his selfish needs and economic quackery.
If I am totally wrong it can only mean one thing -- he's gonna run for president in 2016.
The negative reactions seem proof of the arseholery of some people, and the tendency to value ones self according to how much one makes.
Which means @ $8 an hour I'm a worthless POS, but @ 500K a year I'm a fantastic guy, even though literally nothing changes as far as myself as a person.
Reminds me of a guy I knew that got upset at the idea of everyone having health care because "they shouldn't get what I have to pay for for less or free" (even though he could afford it) when I asked would it be better to let families with small children that can't afford healthcare suffer and possible die he answered "yes".
He was also against everyone (including himself) getting it for free.
He's even more confused. Nothing is free.
Maybe it was because he had a brain and knew that NOTHING purported to be "free" ever is...
The great thing about Man is he is still the same stupid beast he has always been........
Iphones and all the gadgets don't help.
5000 years of history proves it.
It all comes down to ONE thing, Bi ta raoiupint. ibit
a marketing major.
Let me get this right. Some CEO decide of his own freen will to pay his employees more and everyone gets up in arm that he shouldnt do it because.... It a bad decision? get didnt get the approval of a minority shareholder? You dont waat people paid more? I get the idea from alot of poster/posser's above that they are dead set against having anyone paid more than survial ages? Jealous that an employer decided to pay his employees more of the profits instead of paying themselves more, while your current employer if fucking you over? Excuse me, here is a tampoon, stuff a cork in it,.
I dont remember reading in the article that the government ordered him to pay his employees more. So you know rhat that means dumbshits.... It was a free market decision that he made in respects to running his business, as he is the damn CEO and if you dont like it. Well get what.... it is not your choice, you dont have a say in what one business over any other decides to pay its employees. The free market will decide if he is paying his employee too much, Know how... by going out of business, If he can still make money or maybe even more good for him, good business decision.
Last I checked if as an employee you dont like your employers decisions... there is the door, have a nice day. Being a CEO doesnt mean you have to make everyone happy.
Do you ever use a spell-checker or are you just a victim of government schools?
Yeah, if a word or two is mispelled that completely discredits the point he/she is making.
Z
I think what you'll find is that most ... not all ... libertarians are just selfish, petty people that try to justify their selfishness as some sort of moral virtuoisity. Libertarianism offers them that cover. Eventually though their actions don't match their supposed beliefs and incoherence develops. You're seeing that here. Most of the people on this board are rooting against this guy even though he should be someone they are rooting for if they believed in what they say they do. Hell, the dude helped build a successful business basically from scratch. That's something you'd think they would respect, but instead they are pissed off because he is paying his workers more ... probably more than they are making ... or if they own a business themselves. what they want to pay their workers.
Most of the libertarians are also the most nebbiest mfers I've ever met. Always getting involved in other people's business while they speak of the sanctity of privcy. One moment they demand that what they do is nobody's business, the next they are inquiring all about yours.
Z
Yeah I don't think you know any real libertarians. You probably know people who are fleeing that old "conservative" label. Huge douchebags.
Not all libertarians are bad obviously. No doubt about that.
Z
Most of the libertarians THAT I KNOW are also the most nebbiest mfers I've ever met. That's what I meant to write in my comment above that I am replying to.
Z
So " libertarians are just selfish, petty people that try to justify their selfishness as some sort of moral virtuoisity", as opposed to all the leftists who selfishly attempt to use the force of government to compel others to behave according to their self-centred beliefs and believe there is great virtue in combining arrogance, selfishness, vindictiveness and thuggery in one package.
You are bringing up assumptions that may not be there. The facts are simple.
This is a privately held company of which as I have read the article, there are 2 owners. He and his brother. His brother is a silent partner, but we do not know how contractually decisions are to be made by the Managing Brother.
The managing brother may or may not have the authority to commit the "silent" brothers ownership of the company to his managerial decisions.
All things being equal, and since this is a private company, he may have complete control to initiate any management action he wishes.
Eventually, his experimentation, without understanding of what he is doing, does have consequences in the market place as well as with his employees.
Typical Obama strawman argument. Most people commenting here are saying two things.
First it is not all his money to chuck around. So he is ripping off the financial stakeholders including his brother. If he wants to glad hand he should do so only with his own money.
Second, the comments criticial of the policy in other respects are not primarily making a value judgement they are making an efficacy judgement, as in "what a drongo. Does he think this sort of thing has not been tried before with demonstrable effects (see communism)?"
To the extend they are making a value judgement it is about all the hard working people in his firm who have built it and who are being both disrespected and, along with the other employees, likely to find themselves jobless when the business folds because he failed to think through the consequences of his actions.
Dan Price did nothing wrong it was the rest of the arseholes that needed to drag him down to thier level. Business said it made them look bad, employees said someone getting more of the pie than me and ZH readers bag him for trying to make a difference. Nothing changes if everyone accepts that there is only one way to do things. If your offering 70k you can get some really good employees who dont think like plebs.
Sometimes a cigar is just a fucking cigar. He made a business decision, a stupid one, and now his business suffers. It's not a fucking Mossad plot, it's not an opera it's just a bad business decision.
He made a great business decision and has not suffered one bit. He got rid of a couple whiners who were going to do nothing but backstab and drag him down.
The so you're saying that the person cleaning the office should make the same amount of money as the person who went through 4, 6, or even 8 years of college? Wtf Would anyone go to college if that's the case?
cause it is more fun and
easier to play around
than to clean up after?
I am not a beliver in free will. Pretty sure we are all just computers following our program. I am also pretty sure that if any of us were born with Price's gene's and grew up the way he did, we would do EXACTLY the same thing as him.
Because of my viewpoint, I look at the world as made up of individuals who had no choice at all in the true outcome of their life, how could they if they are just following their program. Not everyone is driven to be a hero worker or even has the IQ to excel, but does that mean that their time isn't worth that of someone born with a better program, essentially condemning them? In the end I think humanity will benefit when compassion for other living beings is more important than how large an income you can produce.
I am pretty sure the reason people should be attending colllege is for knowledge, if it is solely for increasing market value that is just sad, and as you show you yourself believe you are now "worth more" than an uneducated person, that IS the reason most people attend college so that is the viewpoint that you and most others have been "brainwashed" or even better "programmed" to believe.
I own my own business and have been implementing a similer policy over the last several months, with very similer results regarding employee frustration. Its very interesting.
There is an old mind teaser:
Which would you rather have? A world where everyone has a lower standard of living including you but while you earn 30k a year everyone else earns only 15k a year making YOU the highest earner OR A world where the standard of living is higher for EVERYONE and YOU make theSAME as everyone else-70K a year. Alot of people choose the first choice
"Which would you rather have? A world where everyone has a lower standard of living including you but while you earn 30k a year everyone else earns only 15k a year making YOU the highest earner OR A world where the standard of living is higher for EVERYONE and YOU make theSAME as everyone else-70K a year. Alot of people choose the first choice."
I sincerely believe that the majority in this country would rather be richer than someone else than to have things better for the both of them. That's a big problem in this country that our rulers exploit to no end. They get us fighting against each other instead of uniting against them ... the ones that are doing us much more wrong than we do to each other.
Z
"I sincerely believe that the majority in this country would rather be richer than someone else than to have things better for the both of them. "
Whether you want to admit it or not YOUR belief is coloring and distorting how you see other people.
..& ZH isn't a muddy watering hole for mainstream thought or majoritarian values.
IF I happen to publicly state that I think you are a complete ideological douchebag projecting your bullshit on other people it is pretty easy to see how our conversations are going to develop.
-Maybe you should try the Clam Chowder.
Which is what a lot of college graduates oughta be asking themselves about now......
"You Don't Know Me"
()
You give your hand to me
And then you say, "Hello."
And I can hardly speak,
My heart is beating so.
And anyone can tell
You think you know me well.
Well, you don't know me.
(no you don't know me)
No you don't know the one
Who dreams of you at night;
And longs to kiss your lips
And longs to hold you tight
Oh I'm just a friend.
That's all I've ever been.
Cause you don't know me.
(no you don't know me)
For I never knew the art of making love,
Though my heart aches with love for you.
Afraid and shy, I let my chance go by.
A chance that you might love me too.
(love me too)
You give your hand to me,
And then you say, "Goodbye."
I watched you walk away,
Beside the lucky guy
Oh, you'll never ever know
The one who loved you so.
Well, you don't know me
(For I never knew the art of making love, )
(Though my heart aches with love for you. )
Afraid and shy, I let my chance go by.
A chance that you might love me too.
(love me too)
Oh, you give your hand to me,
And then you say, "Goodbye."
I watched you walk away,
Beside the lucky guy
Oh, you'll never ever know
The one who loved you so.
Well, you don't know me
(you don't love me, you don't know me)
.
Ray Charles "You Don't Know Me"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRULqLhxKBU
Ray Charles - I Can't Stop Loving You ( 1962 )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-YqaTDDCDM
.
time is money and it stands still.
If a supplier comes to see me in a brand new BMW, I ask for an additional 30% discount.
He's making too much money OFF ME!
If a supplier or service company is announcing that he's going to pay the coffee lady 70 grand, then he's making too muchy off me, I want an addition 50% off.
Fuck this.
Squid
Feel good at it again. Company will be the next Detroit and PR.
Pay increase w/o merit or track record. Way to go, assholio.
Now, if he has the revenue to spread it around, it is his decision. But you don't just drop that kind of money w/o a serious plan.
You also need motivation to get that higher wage!
Thomas Sowell on minimum wages, skills, unemployment and well meaning meddlers
http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell031815.php3
@ Maisey McMaster ,
You did the right thing. He didn't. His ego believed its own press. You made too much sense and you were right -- income should be relative to productivity. He lost a great employee. You'll be fine. He won't.
The CEO's brother(CO-founder) and several minority partners are suing in court to stop the over payements because it turns out the partners will no longer be getting profit checks for their effort and money they put into the company. It is looking more and more that the CEO is trying to force his brother and other partners out of the business. After all, as CEO he is still going to get paid.
Your theory makes little sense, but I predict that this post willl still get 5 approvals for each disapproval because most of the people here, in their zeal to believe that this guy's got some evil intentions in giving most of his workers a huge raise, are more than willing to be just as dumb as you are.
Has it ever occurred to you idiots that not everyone is as selfish and fucked up as you are?
Z
"most of the people here, in their zeal to believe that this guy's got some evil intentions in giving most of his workers a huge raise "
IF Dan's intentions were 100% above board he would simply have bought out his partners before institution of the pay raise.
It's easy to throw other people's money around and feel good about it.
Even easier to make those who are trying to stop what might be very destructive to their own livelihoods out to be assholes without knowing their particular situations.
How do you know some widows and orphans are not dependent upon their previously agreed and rightful share of proceeds from this company and are gonna be irrevocably fucked by this?
Looking at the bright side; at least we are not as stupid as you.
"The CEO's brother(CO-founder) and several minority partners are suing in court to stop the over payements because it turns out the partners will no longer be getting profit checks for their effort and money they put into the company. "
Exactly.
Dan didn't choose to buy them out before taking this action.
IF this were a publicly traded company and it was announced the stock would tank/get sold and Dan might have bought 'em out on the cheap in the open market ( sleazy; but... 'just business' ); but, it's privately held and he has them trapped with worthless unsellable shares that they will no longer receive compensation for holding.
The shareholders likely still have a legal responsibility/liability for paying their portion of the company's bills/debts and could be sued if company folds for collection. Sometimes if one partner is bankrupt the other partners are tapped to make up the difference.
Dan might be setting them up not only to lose their investment but also to take it up the ass in a bankruptcy...
This just in from the Ric Romero Institute: business is risky, bad decisions have consequences, and it's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.
A CEO's job is to run the company as efficiently as possible to make a reasonable profit while ensuring his employees are fairly paid for their skills and productivity. Paying everyone the same is more political than good management. His decision puts a mail orderly wages on par with a VP in sales to use a simple analogy. This obviously won't work out well. The VP will demand a equivalent raise but the funds won't be there. He and others will locate other work. Those that stay will lose any ambition they ever had and will do the minimal needed to get by, Eventually the company goes under.All employees are out of work and to make matters worse will find it harder to get hired as different companies won't want their workforce "polluted"
He should have tried to find a solution to the employee that could not pay his debts. Maybe the employee was living too high of a standard for his income, maybe the employee could do some extra work to make more dough. But equal pay for diverse skills has not worked for 6000 years. He has most likely destroyed the company and his partners know this, thus their income is indirectly affected by his decision.
What do you suppose would happen if other corporations tried this and reduced share holders compensation to cover the added costs. Even though it seems a nice gesture I'll bet they sell their stock in droves.
America's problem with wages is due to government corruption and corporate greed when production was offshored to various low wage nations without corresponding tariffs for the now foreign products being imported. Add to the misery the on shoring of professionals via H1B and other legal immigration. What's left is taken by the illegals that are allowed to enter. Trying to correct this through communistic programs will only exacerbate the problem.
All trade treaties should be reviewed and tariffs imposed when it is obvious the corporation is offshoring solely for wage arbitration. The prices won't change much as most of the corporations are already pricing products the same as if they were to be produced here only pocketing it as profit. This is not honest profit. It is fraud perpetrated on the nation that gave most of them their start. Corporations should have some loyalty to their home country. If they want to be international,,, fine,,, let them pay a tariff. And yes I know a tariff is a tax on the buyer, but it is necessary to protect your manufacturing and jobs from the dumping of foreign product. Awww hell,,, preachin again. sorry. I just hate to see this nation turned into the socialist bunch of beggars it has become.
"What do you suppose would happen if other corporations tried this and reduced share holders compensation to cover the added costs. Even though it seems a nice gesture I'll bet they sell their stock in droves. "
I have already posed this question and received NO answer.
Specifically: APPLE has a fuck-ton of money, probably enough to pay everyone that works for the company directly and indirectly ( Foxconn ) a minimum of $70k a year.
I think that IF Tim Cook @ Apple even mentioned that he admired and would like to do something similar that Apple stock would totally tank and the Hedgies, and the Public and Private Union Pension Funds world scream bloody fucking murder. Yes, even the Democrat dominated Public and Private Union Pension Funds would freak the fuck out.
hey bud its 2015-wake up APPLE is now manufacturing in South Carolina at its huge new super complex-they ditched Foxconn long ago. Microsoft products are still made at FOXCONN, however
"APPLE is now manufacturing in South Carolina at its huge new super complex-they ditched Foxconn long ago. "
1. To my knowledge only a single device -the 'MacPro' is assembled in South Carolina.
ARE YOU IGNORANT -OR A LIAR? : http://appleinsider.com/topic/foxconn
2. OBVIOUSLY $70K for high quality/skilled American Labor is no problem for mega-wealthy and high profit Apple if it is so easily implemented by the likes of 120 employee Gravity !
WHERE IS DA MONEY, MR. COOK???
What??!
Oh, yeah, even Chinese peasant labor is not cheap enough for Cook & Apple: it's off to India or on to robotics..
Just wondering, what is it that you can do at a payment processing place that is worth $300 per day? I've got friends that work at the big ones like Amex, and they make half that. They really don't work that hard, they just have a clue what they doing. This fella is 31? He's not even old enough to be a dipsh*t yet
There is a direct correlation in birth rates and cost of living. The provertly line in Seatte for a family of 4 if 65K! I know its my Hometown!
http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/53033
i wouldn't bitch if i got a raise like that...
Billy the Poet .... thank you for your contributions here .... solid, thoughtful work .... well done !
Ya know, we .............. um, had a chance in September of 2006, and we just literally blew it .. (and now you know why 2008 really occurred, kick the can strategy, and set for another repeat before end of this year. consequences 12x 2008.)
We, meaning We The People ........... ya know, "the consent of the governed." From that document we all signed ((or at least was signed for us, via our power(s) of attorney(s)) back in 1776 ..
Had we done this, or say put into office later that would insure said protocols would be executed, this would be a non-story. Would it not? Talks of minimum wage would be completely off the radar .. (and so another episode in Idiocracy)
But, we blew it ..
Or, did we? (that is to say, do we still have another chance.)
Get to it people .. It is called MINDSHARE .. And, we need a whole lot of it ..
Somebody tell Roger Waters to reconsider: "But if you ask for a rise it's no surprise that they're giving none away." The CEO dude almost looks like David Gilmour. Now that is a surprise.
I was thinking Gilmour at first but after reading the article he's more like that famous Joe Dirt actor
I used to work for Dan. No shit. And I quit too, just like everyone else in the company.
That skimpy ass 70k was nothing compared to the big, big, big money I make here at home on my laptop.
This is what I do:
www.advertisingtroll.com
Funny -thanks for that at 1:20 AM Eastern
What is with the West Coast of Conus? Cursed? I am thinking the Cascadian subduction layer is going to suck the left coast right down the terlet. I can understand an Obama or Jerry Brown government types making such bad economic decisions but a prvate sector guy ( though young) doing this? Turn out the lights Left Coast - and New York - you are done.
This moron forgot a couple of things.
1. The best line from Caddyshack "the world needs ditch diggers too"
2. If you give someone something so easily, they will only want more. The desire for more, or to advance, is not quelled by the fairy godmothers wand granting all wishes. People need to achieve, they need to strive. This is all part of the human psyche.
120 employees@ $70,000= $9,400,000 cost
If the average old wage was , $35,000 @ 120 employees= $4,700.000 cost
2014 net profit of Gravity= $2,200,000
2015 potential net (lost)= $3,500,000
2016 potential income of 120 employees if company goes broke =$0
Douchey hipster CEO pulls asinine political stunt to impress girl and try to get laid by jeopardizing entire family business. Little miss maisey mcnasty is a lesbian (by product of living in leftist Seattle) is not impressed. Hipster CEO loses everything.
Close enough yet?
"Close enough yet? "
Dan might like, um, ...the other white meat...
-Not that there is anything wrong with that...
Wow! Joe Dirt is the CEO of a company? Who knew?
Maisey McMaster (I like the cut of her hips) .... didn't have much time for her husband and extended family .... is that PC for no kids .... the Muzzies in Seattle have been having plenty of babies .... the blacks mostly abort .... ya see where I'm going ?
extended family = he or she brings their spawn from a previous marriage into the fold.
why did he do that?
He's a liberal, without the faintest idea about the laws of gravity. And he needs a 4 semester stint in economics, psychology 101, and holding narcissism at bay.
Notice that the truly destructive reactions come not from the rich, who have nothing to lose, nor the poor, who have much to gain, but from the self-deceived "middle class" trusties whose illusion of meritocracy is spoiled by giving others what they deserve without making them sacrifice their souls for it. Never, of course, do those who have worked hard and prospered stop to consider all of those who have worked just as hard but have never gotten anywhere. Those who "make it" ALWAYS believe that they have gotten there by virtue and hard work, not by the grace of good fortune. Thus the operative illusion of Anglo-Saxon Protestantism. The Romans were more honest with themselves.
Fairiedust - Fuck you dickwad. I didn't win the vagina lottery. I had to evolve with a lot of sacrifice to have anything. Use that computer, it is an informational tool and a great leveler to the vagina lottery. A few are born lucky. Most of us weren't.
All I want is the government to be a neutral referee in the boxing ring of life which is what they are supposedly paid to do. But right now the sociopaths on the hill want to cheat and allow Rocky to have to fight two Clubber Langs to have a prayer of making something of himself. Still, I am winning but I grow tired. May be best to find another venue to fight in. If the world is all fascist then there are cheaper places to live than here.
The politicians here and near globally think a hive raid is copacetic. Nothing new under the sun in a larger picture of things...
Who in hell started this long hair thing? MAisey, lose at least 3/4 of it, it does nothing to hide your horse face, and your hips.
I mean down to your waist??? What for??
Straight men prefer long hair. She doesn't strike me as a dyke.
Straight men prefer long hair. She doesn't strike me as a dyke.
Straight men prefer long hair. She doesn't strike me as a dyke.
the lard ass chewing gum and talking with her coworker about how hot the UPS driver is in his summer shorts doesnt merit the same pay as the guys or gals out there making rain and pulling in the sales. Period. Straight commission for all jobs. You get paid what you are worth. Start every month at zero and man the fuck up Ameria. I have built a business. I worked with a brother in law. I bulit it with my sales but it was his capital. I figured out in about 6 months that he didnt really like to work so much. I walked away after about a year. The final straw was the day when, after visiting 7 or 8 new clients, I returned to the office to see his new mahogany office furniture being delivered. It caused a huge rift with my oldest sister when I walked away. She didn't want to believe her husband was a slug.
For those who say don't go into business with family, listen to them.. The minimum wage fiasco.. it is called a minimum wage for a reason people. It should never be a living wage. Their are maybe 12 percent of people with true leadership skills. Ask anyone who has been in management. I have. All my life. Management and sales management and sales trainer. If you manage people you know they do what you inspect not what you expect. Case in point when as an executive chef I had a new kitchen prep cook. Honest to God story. I told him I needed 3 20 lb cheddar cheese wheels ground up and put in lexan containers. He did it. Plastic tube wrap and two metal staples on the ends included. Want to pay him 70K a year. He was not my hire by the way but he was my responsibliity. At the time that 60 lbs of cheese was worth around 120 dollars. I admit that is an extreme case. I didnt raise my voice in anger I simply asked if he had ever eaten a metal staple in his cheese soup. He apologized and we moved on . With training he became a a great prep cook.
When you separate wages from skill sets you have problems. I you answer to no one but yourself and own your own business you can adopt all your employees and write them into your will and no one will give a rats ass. If you overpay your employees in relation to revenue you will go out of business which is also your business. I have never worked for a poor man or a bankrupt company. Enough said
Your first mistake was having a sister.
Meet Dan Price. The dumbest wannabe socialist-Commie in America.
News flash, Dan: Your federal (and local and state) government has been trying to do this for the past (at least) 7 years. And look how its turning out (upcoming cliff-dive ahead followed by revolution).
Even the show Game of Thrones, which I'm sure you're familiar with, knows that the Lannister debts to Braavos banks can never be repaid. You can only spend other people's money for so long before it runs out, too.
If the $8/hr worker gets bumped up to $15/hr, then shouldn't the $25/hr get bumped up to $32/hr? Then doesn't the cost of everything go up, accordingly? So eventually, a hamburger that was $2.50 is now eight bucks? What then? Will you raise the yearly minimum to $100K?
Dan Price--the biggest fool in the land.
Tell you what, Dan, why don't you just promote the newest noobies so that they all sit on the Board of Directors of the company. Then, they can vote themselves a big fat pay raise--you know, out of money that doesn't really exist. And they can set the floor to $1 million dollars each. I mean, that's what Congress does, so why not private companies, too?
Actually, $25/hr should then go to $47/hr--which would be even worse.
This is a perfect example of how big a joke it is when some humans try and act like the species is some connected one where people care for their fellow man because they are the same species. Most people only care about themselves and their families which is fine but drop the act of pretending one cares about the masses.
If I were at that company and a long time worker then I would not give a crap if others were getting a big increase in salary while I wasn't as long as my salary was suiting my needs and as long as they weren't something like part time workers or mailroom clerks. I just don't give a crap about what others make as I feel it is childish to do so. It blows my mind that talking about money/salary is such a taboo thing in this fucked up world. Why do people care so much? It's just money and what one makes or how much money one has does not make a person.
Having said that, I completely understand the stupidity of his idea/decision and it is funny he didn't realize the obvious problems he'd run into.
His interoffice politics might have shit the bed for a little while, but with a pay starting point of 70k he's going to attract the right people for his business plus capitalize on the benefit of free marketing. Most of the comments in the thread might be highlighting the religious nonsense, but consider that he's put a pay cap up that nearly ensures he is now going to get the most qualified people for any operational job to help him run his company. Everyone being hired, is hired under the same pay grade and therefore unconstrained about worrying about what the next person is making since everyone in the company is making a living wage for the Seattle area. Anyone that's worked in an office environment understands that the biggest cause of friction in an office is always in the order of the three p's: pay, promotion, parking. He just solved his biggest problem long term.
Where lemonaide gets made. The price is also high enough that it will wake up some of the old foxes out there carrying a huge bag of experience and wisdom on how to streamline, accelerate business solutions to build processes and teams in his company so things run smoother. If anyone has worked with statespeople the KISS rule (keep it simple stupid) is the measuring stick they applied everywhere since time is a commodity most of them understand is short. From that type of adopt of experience it is a soft cost that might not be seen immediately, but it certainly carries forward long term. Not to mention the passive training that occurs from the older experienced work force to the younger handheld generation. It is something that is lacking in 'modern' business, the senior statesperson that is unencumbered by flash and hype while carrying a bag of ideas that are very functional that they gather over decades. Usually in a large company, these folks are often marginalized as overhead. In a small and medium business they are kung fu masters of business development since they are walking and talking tombs of experience in their professional niches.
Good luck Dan Price, growth is a good problem to have, the change that comes with it is where headaches happen. Go find an old local fox to help you stick handle your media and optics, at 70k the pickings will be pretty good. Most if not all of them know how to type quickly, have a built in spell/grammar checkers, understand 'the wise are silent' and know how to politely say 'fuck off' to media while shaping a message for your business. Remember pain is temporary and fortune favours the bold.
I hope he at least got a few more BJ's out of the deal.
I love it! You have a boss who has proven himself to be kind-hearted and magnanimous; the boss that everyone wishes for. So rather than work for a good guy like that, the mid-level guys jump ship!? I wish them all success in finding new bosses who are ruthless and greedy and selfish! Ha, ha, ha, haaaa!!! You worthless dirtbags! Wonder why you're on anti-depressants and your kids hate you?
It's nice to know that business people are still as small and petty as I remember them when I walked away from that world in 2008. I'd rather dig ditches in the hot sun than work with spoiled children like you people.
spoiled = getting (and taking) things they didn't earn/deserve
More feel-good crapola from the supposed business community. Maybe companies should hire CEO's that are not idealistic millenials, and who understand basic economics. Oh, and are real good with a calculator - maybe even a nice hardware one that sits on your desk and stares you in the face. Guess that's too much to ask these days. 2 + 2 = 5.
I am not religious but came across the Parables of the Labores in the Vineyard. Obviously this has been a topic for ages
http://www.gotquestions.org/parable-laborers-vineyard.html
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard?
Libtards will never understand macro and micro economics in the context of human nature.
It is fun to watch as another communist endeavor goes down in flames.
Liberalism is the ideal embraced by the functionally retarded... because it "feels good" instead of rationally and logically thought out and planned.
Tell the CEO he can rent off of me when he loses everything because of his misguided idealism.
LMAO
Liberalism AKA communism will ultimately destroy this republic. The democraps were infiltrated by commies back in the 50's and the actions of this foolish CEO is a microcosm of the long term implications of a plan decades in the planning.
This CEO is the frontrunner for the 2015 Darwin Award.