- Increasing my employees’ salaries has helped our business and the local economy.
- Millions of Americans live in poverty and work full time.
- Congress is expected to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour to ensure a rapid economic recovery.
- John Driscoll is the CEO of CareCentrix.
- This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
- Visit the Business section of the Insider for more stories.
We can afford to raise the minimum wage. As part of his government’s bold COVID-19 aid package, President Joe Biden promised to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour. The gradual recovery approach advocated by the previous government has failed in our country and has only led to more economic difficulties for American workers. If approved, a federal minimum wage of $ 15 an hour would benefit not only workers, but also companies and the economy. Why am I so sure?
Because my company tried. It worked.
Conservatives quickly accepted Biden’s proposal, arguing that a $ 15 minimum wage would hurt small businesses and result in massive job losses, but these claims are simply false. At our company, CareCentrix, we have frozen the salaries of the top 20 executives to help raise our company’s minimum wage to $ 15 an hour seven years ago, and good things have happened. Productivity has increased and we have reduced employee turnover in half. With our frontline employees finally able to focus on their jobs and not worrying about their accounts, profits have increased and Worldwide at my company was benefited.
Is CareCentrix considered a small business? If so, let’s make that very clear here. Otherwise, we will have to add some additional information to argue that small businesses will not be harmed by a salary increase
My business is thriving because we recognize that paying the salaries of our entry-level employees, who increasingly left them unable to afford basic living expenses, was morally and economically absurd.
The moral argument for raising the minimum wage is as clear as it is tragic. At CareCentrix, we found that one of our teammates was living outside the car to save on bills, while another new employee needed to raise money from her colleagues to buy diapers. The more I learned about the harsh reality that my workforce was facing when trying to care for their families and balance their expenses with the current minimum wage, the clearer it was that a change was overdue.
Take these stories, multiply them by millions, and you will see a clear picture of what failing to pay people a living wage did, and will continue to do, to the social and economic fabric of our country if it is not resolved. The United States appears to be heading towards a K-shaped recovery from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, where wealthy executives like me enjoy massive gains in wealth, while low-income workers lose their jobs and economies disproportionately. When low-income workers find jobs, they are usually working for the federal minimum of $ 7.25 an hour, a rate that doesn’t even cover rent anywhere in the United States, much less provide decent living than essential workers. deserve it.
Some critics argue that raising the minimum wage during a pandemic exacerbates our existing economic problems. However, failing to pay fair wages was precisely what put so many American workers on the edge of a cliff in the first place, what pushed the COVID-19 crisis. Increasing it now will literally save lives. Studies even before the pandemic show that raising the minimum wage by just $ 1 prevents thousands of suicides each year.
The moral argument is compelling, but the economic argument for raising wages is equally clear. The increase in the minimum wage is one of the best macroeconomic tools we have to boost the economy when we need it most.
Consumer spending accounts for 70% of the growth of the American economy each year. The low wage crisis existed before COVID-19, but the pandemic made it infinitely worse. Now we see worrying declines in consumer spending. A simple solution to this problem is to put more money in people’s pockets, and raising the salary is the perfect way to do this. This will not only ensure that more than 40 million workers – a quarter of the workforce and two-thirds of the working poor – have a little more money to spend, in fact, increase employment growth for retail and small businesses.
Congress, and the general public, should not believe the critics’ false structure about the minimum wage. My company (among others) is seeing the widespread benefits of raising wages to $ 15 an hour. Our success can be replicated across the country and shows that increased wages and business success are not conflicting interests. We can raise the minimum wage, raise workers and revive our economy in the process.
John Driscoll is the CEO of CareCentrix, a leading post-acute care company that has been named one of the top national companies to work for. John serves as president of Waystar Corporation. He also chairs the Truman National Security Project and is a member of the Patriotic Millionaires.