Yelp Employee Protests Low Pay in Medium Post, Is Promptly Fired
recode.net
recode.net
Landscaper: $6/hr (ages 12-16, living at home)
Target Employee: $7/hr (age 17, living at home)
Video game store clerk: $7/hr (age 18-20, living at home)
Spa/Jacuzzi repair/transport: $7/hr (age 20, college)
Sunglass Hut sales person: $9/hr (age 20, college)
HP Printer salesman: $10/hr (age 20-22, college)
Copy Editor at a population 30,000 town newspaper (age 22-23, living with roommates): $32k/yr or approx $15/hr
...and so on for about 3 more years (living with at least one other person) before I transitioned to software development and things took off for me.
You'll notice points where my age is the same. It's because I had those jobs at the same time.
None of those jobs, not one, had free health insurance (most had no health insurance, period), and none had 401k matching. None had free snacks, outside of a coffee machine. None had a fun, vibrant work culture. And with each one, I was working with the understanding that it was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life because it sucked and I hated being poor and I was determined to do whatever it took to not be.
I don't really know if there's anything to garner from all of that. It's just my experience, and it makes it difficult for me to understand why people feel like they should have a job they love that pays well first thing in life. According to most people I've talked to, that's not the norm.
> I don't really know if there's anything to garner from all of that.
Yes, there is: the US system is dead rotten to the core. In Germany, there's a minimum wage and normal jobs automatically carry health insurance, basic pensions and loss-of-job-insurance. And that's valid for any job, no matter how "low-level".
Unless you're a real edge case (1-man-companies!) it's really hard to fall through the nets in Germany. I'm worried about our politicians slashing all the nets because Hail Capitalism.
I would absolutely agree with this assertion.
I think the notion is that people should have a job that pays a livable wage, meaning you should be able to pay for rent, utilities and food.
Sure, the market in a lot of unskilled jobs mean employers can basically blackmail you into accepting an unlivable wage because otherwise you'll just starve to death or live on the street. I still think it's ok for people to speak up against it. The only thing that keeps most such low-paying jobs staffed is the threat of homelessness.
A fun, vibrant work culture, 401k matching or even "free" health insurance are kind of ridiculous luxuries when you're struggling to feed yourself.
In the end I think a business that relies on unlivable wages to operate is a business that ought not to exist (or at least not to exist in its current form).
Yelp is (now) saying "come to Phoenix" and you can have a livable wage.
If the govt doesn't mandate certain pay, it's hard for the board to justify paying them. Shareholders want max profit. Not saying I like this...
I suspect that firing someone can exacerbate a Streisand-like effect.
It would be nice if you could link to the original article