Not really. Which is why unions allow pay scales... and nearly every public sector job does as well. Which are the most labor first environments you will have out there.
I imagine you don't actually have a say in any real company business in this regard because nothing you keep preaching about matches actual business at scale for the kind of roles we are talking about.
Yes, turnover is expensive, but know what's more expensive? Over paying wages in perpetuity. Which is why a company will accept a reasonable rate of turnover rather than trying to bribe every employee to stay.
MATH. If a position sells $30/hr of goods.. I can't afford to pay someone $20/hr to staff that position.
Positions that are pure overhead are an expense that if it destroys my net margin, I have no purpose and no ability to sustain my business. So what will I do? I will reduce expenses.
Job pay is not independent of your business' revenue and expense model. It's very much part of it... and why your payroll is structured around the ROLES you have and you determine what you can afford independently of WHO you hire.
It is - especially in the low skill labor market being addressed here. It's how employers in both the public and private sector work. It's why there is such a thing as 'pay bands', and specific job titles and descriptions. These are not made up - it's how the world works for vast swaths of the job market. Even in white collar jobs... just there, there tends to be more leaway to rank and employee because the pay bands tend to be wider.
Employers make tough decisions all the time about employees because unlike your view of the world... there are actual constraints they face, and they can't hide from them. Sometimes you just gotta tell someone "I wish you the best..." as you let them walk out the door because you made the business decision you can't meet their demands. It's not because you're a robber baron, it can be because the role simply can't support that cost.
Your plumber example is due to shrinking demand affecting market values - not that the plumber is somehow more valuable to the company. You are again, mixing different things.
'should' -- because you're going on emotions.
Eventually the employee will ask for things you can't meet, or you will decide they are replaceable. Then that employee will learn that "we love what you do here, but we can't meet your new demands".
This is part of being an employer. I honestly think many of you have never held a position of any actual authority or fiscal responsibility in your life.
Experience from the bottom looking up I assume.
