First jobs

I wonder sometimes if the people who want to raise the minimum wage actually go on site and meet some of these workers and employers. They might be surprised to find situations other than the poor and the destitute. They might find new to the workforce people, and people who need a lot of flexibility, and people that drift in and out of jobs because that’s what they want to do. They might find people who are accepting the wage because they get something for it.

In each of these situations the employer is giving something in return. If you are new to the trade, you will need a lot of extra coaching and assistance. Your boss is ‘working’ extra hours in training or staying late or forgoing other responsibilities. A new to the workforce employees may need more understanding and leeway on other issues like sticking to a schedule and what to do when your car doesn’t start and how to handle notice for time away.

Flexible and short-term employment also causes a churn for employers who have the responsibility of maintaining all the HR administrative work. Yet many people I’ve know over the years, that do not qualify as destitute, have been willing to work those jobs because they are a temporary distraction, jobs they don’t have to think about, that can be ditched in a heartbeat.

I was hired for one of my first jobs due to family connections. Some might object to that, but a connection is a control string on the employee. Anything the dependent does reflects on the career officer, which puts in play strong incentives for adequate performance. When a connection is not available for that first job, employers may have to work a little harder at supervising until they are confident of the reliability of their new worker.

I could go on with examples, even if some are now taboo to talk about. I’m sure someone would frown if I pointed out that the language barriers create more work for employers. And certainly I’d be accused of the ‘r’ word if I pointed out that getting to know other folks’ culture whether about language, or sick time, or parental leave, would certainly be an adjustment versus hiring the neighbor’s kid whose father works for you.

We have to admit that this type of ‘social’ work exists, call it something, give it value, so we can enumerate it, and use it in fruitful discussions. But since there is a lack of accounting, there is no science to the discussion around minimum wage–there are just opinions. Predictions.

Until we call it out, and give a name to the work that must be done to shore up cultural and social issues; until we count the number of hours of work that goes into it, we won’t have the sophistication to deal with getting low wage workers up the economic ladder.