Check this out- after unprecedented cost cutting measures by corporations over the past 12-14 months, wages are growing again! Or are they?
This is according to a recent NYT article. I myself was a victim of just about all the cost cutting measures (except being laid off) last year: My raise was postponed indefinitely, company match to my 401(k) was halted, and my bonus evaporated into thin air.
“Most companies have evidently decided that pay cuts aren’t worth the downside…The theory holds that executives of companies don’t cut pay, even when demand for labor has fallen. They worry that employees will become less motivated or start looking for another job,…So companies instead lay off workers or stop hiring. They concentrate the pain.”
This makes sense. I know my loyalty to my employer would quickly fade if I lost income further.
You have to parse the article carefully to find where the wage growth is happening, because it’s mostly due to inflation being less than 0, so even though workers are earning the same dollar amount as last year, the buying power of those dollars is increasing.
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