Costco CEO: Raise The Minimum Wage To More Than $10 Per

[Robbie3000]

President Barack Obama wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour. And the CEO of one of America's largest retailers says such a move would be good for workers and businesses alike. In fact, he says raise it even more.

On Tuesday, Costco CEO and President Craig Jelinek came out in support of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, which aims to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, then adjust it after that for inflation.

"At Costco, we know that paying employees good wages makes good sense for business," Jelinek said in a statement. "We pay a starting hourly wage of $11.50 in all states where we do business, and we are still able to keep our overhead costs low."

"An important reason for the success of Costco’s business model is the attraction and retention of great employees," Jelinek added. "Instead of minimizing wages, we know it's a lot more profitable in the long term to minimize employee turnover and maximize employee productivity, commitment and loyalty. We support efforts to increase the federal minimum wage."

Costco has a reputation for paying its employees above market rate, with the typical worker earning around $45,000 in 2011, according to Fortune. Walmart-owned Sam's Club, in contrast, pays its sales associates an average of $17,486 per year, according to salary information website Glassdoor.com.

Costco also provides health insurance to a significantly larger percentage of its workers than does Walmart, the Harvard Business Review reported in 2006.

Jelinek's predecessor, Costco founder Jim Sinegal, has also expressed support for raising the federal minimum wage in the past. "The more people make, the better lives they're going to have and the better consumers they're going to be," Sinegal told the Washington Post in 2007. "It's going to provide better jobs and better wages." Not all business leaders agree with Jelinek about the minimum wage. Subway CEO Fred Deluca, for one, told CNBC last week that raising the minimum wage is "a bad idea" that "will cause franchisees to raise prices."

Costco CEO: Raise The Minimum Wage To More Than $10 Per Hour

 

[Dark Knyght]

Sounds good. Costco starts you out at $10 an hour starting, $11 if you work the cash register. You get automatic raises for every, if remember 800-1000 hours you work, less if you have been there for years. And time and a half every Sunday. Which is good. What they don't tell you is that they lay you off for 2-4 months every year unless you're management or pretty established employee.

 

[FaTaL]

Sounds good. Costco starts you out at $10 an hour starting, $11 if you work the cash register. You get automatic raises for every, if remember 800-1000 hours you work, less if you have been there for years. And time and a half every Sunday. Which is good. What they don't tell you is that they lay you off for 2-4 months every year unless you're management or pretty established employee.

didnt know that

so u basically dont work for a couple of months and they bring u back?

 

[Dark Knyght]

didnt know that

so u basically dont work for a couple of months and they bring u back?

Yeah, I'm assuming they all do that. I'm not sure. But I worked at Costco a few years ago (I was seasonal though, it was a side thing for me) and I have close friends that still work there now. Every year, right after Christmas they lay the majority of workers off (seasonal and permanent) and call you back around March, April. They might call you back earlier if necessary, everything is based on the needs of the business of course.

They also encourage employees to take month long vacations during this time as well. My friend does this every year, she went to Cayman and has been there for about 3 weeks now. Then when they do call you back, they hours start of pretty light and doesn't really pick up til like May, June. I mean, its cool if you saved your chips and you can afford the break, but if you got bills and shyt, it's no bueno. And its not like you can really get a another job during this time because most companies aren't hiring in January or February.

 

[PortCityProphet]

that's cool for huge corporations like costco and mcdonalds but it'd kill everybody else. maybe thats what he wants

 

[Liquid]

I wish there was a Costco near me. I refuse to support sams club or WalMart unless it benefits me substantially. I'd rather pay $5-$10 per grocery trip than to support those a$$holes

 

[Listen]

At the end of the day, if republicans want people off goverment program's then the private sector needs to have jobs that pay more than what the goverment program does.

If the the private sector refuses to pay livable wages to all employee's than the goverment is always going to have to provide a saftey net, unless we want to become a nation of poverty.

Its fairly simple economics and I dont understand why conservatives dont get behind it. There ks no way to have free markets and no saftey net in the world today.

 

[beenz]

Yeah, I'm assuming they all do that. I'm not sure. But I worked at Costco a few years ago (I was seasonal though, it was a side thing for me) and I have close friends that still work there now. Every year, right after Christmas they lay the majority of workers off (seasonal and permanent) and call you back around March, April. They might call you back earlier if necessary, everything is based on the needs of the business of course.

They also encourage employees to take month long vacations during this time as well. My friend does this every year, she went to Cayman and has been there for about 3 weeks now. Then when they do call you back, they hours start of pretty light and doesn't really pick up til like May, June. I mean, its cool if you saved your chips and you can afford the break, but if you got bills and shyt, it's no bueno. And its not like you can really get a another job during this time because most companies aren't hiring in January or February.

why would costco lay people off every january? I go there all the time, and there is no time of year where they aren't packed full of customers. why wouldn't they wanna stay fully staffed?

 

[Listen]

why would costco lay people off every january? I go there all the time, and there is no time of year where they aren't packed full of customers. why wouldn't they wanna stay fully staffed?

I know of some high tech companies who run mandatory furlows for every employee for at least 2 weeks every fiscal year.

Helps them take a huge costs savings during their down months/quarters without actually laying people off, because they know they will need those employees still.

 

[Listen]

I mean, the problem is so cyclical its hilarious.

Company's form to sell products to consumers.

Company hires employees to help.

Economy is good, consumers have money to spend on the product, company pays fair wages to attract talent.

Company pays taxes to the federal government so they can pay for government programs.

Economy slows, company sells less products, earnings are down, company lays off non essential workers to save money.

Companies see the surplus of talent, lower their wages and replace old, expensive worker with cheaper, overqualified worker.

Laid off person is unemployed.

Person needs job. Now the only available jobs pay $7-$8 an hour.

Person made more at a previous job before recession and adjusted his living expenses accordingly by increasing his consumer spending (nicer place to live, better food, car, TV cable, new clothes etc).

Government offers unemployment based on a more than reasonable rate of 60% of that persons previous 2 year earnings. The amount is designed to make you cut back on frivolous spending, but help you try and hold on to important items while you try and find a new job.

Government program now pays you more than if you took the only available jobs at $7-$8 an hour.

Person doesn't take job.

Government program runs out.

Person only then takes job.

Companies are paying less for employees, but because they are, their employees have less money to spend on their products. Growth is stagnant.

Company complains about paying too much in taxes.

Government talks of increasing minimum wage.

Company talks of laying off more people if they do.

Company loses new employees as soon as they can find a better paying job.

Company then has to increase its employee compensation to retain or hire talent.

 

[Mr. Somebody]

Good idea. People should be paid more because the rent/food/gas are too high.

 

[Listen]

fukk, I'm rambling now.....

And just to add to this point....

Here's a list of Pro's and Con's from a conservative perspective.

Pro's to Raising Minimum Wage with inflation and to a livable standard:

Legislates the private sector with a easy to implement, minimalistic baseline of legislation that is loop hole free and doesn't carry big bureaucracy.

Keeps even the most menial and accessible jobs in the market at a place where people who work them should not need as much(or any) government assistance.

Placing the onus on businesses to properly pay their employees will help reduce the burden on certain social programs and allow you to better attempt to fix them.

Con's to Raising Minimum Wage with inflation and to a livable standard:

Could require certain smaller businesses to completely restructure their business models to adsorb a rising labor cost.

Potentially could lead to layoffs and even closing of some small businesses if the increase in overhead cannot be gained back to flat growth by a raising of prices or an increase in sales/productivity.


I mean, fukk.....Tax breaks to big companies do NOTHING to stimulate hiring. Raising minimum wage forces the companies to spend more on employees. More on employees might not stimulate hiring but it puts more money in the pocket fo consumers without legislating the hell out of free enterprise.

That's the only reason a republican would vote for a tax break versus a higher minimum wage is to let the company choose.....and a company will ALWAYS do whats in its best interest. Rule #1 of economics.

 

[Rev]

No wonder i've seen Costco on one those "Best Companies to Work For" lists. They have good benefits & all, too.

 

[Type Username Here]

Good idea. People should be paid more because the rent/food/gas are too high.

They'll just raise the prices of those things.

I'm for increasing wages, but unless we stop corporate greed, it's pretty much useless to do so. People are ready to spew the "corporations are going to pass it on to the consumer" nonsense, but neglect to mention that most of these companies are making record profits and paying out record bonuses.

 

[Mr. Somebody]

They'll just raise the prices of those things.

I'm for increasing wages, but unless we stop corporate greed, it's pretty much useless to do so. People are ready to spew the "corporations are going to pass it on to the consumer" nonsense, but neglect to mention that most of these companies are making record profits and paying out record bonuses.

How do you stop corporate greed, seriously.