Economy, Corporate Greed, and Wages: The Want to Live, Not Survive.
In the process of becoming an adult, everyone has different circumstances and steps to fulfill their end goals and so forth. Every second that passes makes it harder to do so with how expensive it is to live, become employed, and live instead of barely making ends meet.
There is a disagreement between generations if the current working generations is has genuine room to complain about the current wages and work culture that is in place. First, the question is whether or not the amount given is enough to live upon. To observe this, the following chart found on bill.com
As indicated by the data shown in the table and article findings, it states that the minimum wage in most states on average does not cover the cost of living. It specifically states “it is rare for the full-time income of US minimum wage earners to cover their cost of living, especially if they’re providing for more than just themselves.”
Everyone is taught at a young age that sometimes employers cannot afford to pay their employees more due to profits being at values where they can only afford to keep the business running.
This, however can be proven otherwise in cases where multiple corporations report massive profits as well as CEO pay raises despite layoffs and inflation. This can notably be found in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic. With housing and general prices at an all time high, it is perplexing to see profits surpassing 2 trillion. “In the fourth quarter of 2023…Adjusted profits after taxes hit a record high of $2.8 trillion.”
Running a business is surely expensive, especially those that are based around the world with multiple establishments and sites.
However, these are profits after tax, meaning a large sum of money left for the business to do whatever they wish with. Individuals may argue that it is used to make the business more lucrative through improvements. Yet, hardly does it ever go into giving the employees who make these numbers possible a raise in wage.
“It is encouraging that this upward revision primarily came from consumer spending and nonresidential fixed investment,” said Michelle Cluver, head of ETF portfolios.
Spending is a necessary part for an economy to move, but that does not give an excuse to increase the prices to outrageous prices and sometimes even lessen the product as seen in the phenomenon known as shrinkflation.
Job security is a thing that many worry about, for good reason.
Recently, there was a massive layoff of employees at Warner Bros Discovery and on top of cancelling many projects in the making. The CEO would later receive a 27% increase in annual compensation, netting him 49.7 million.
Even the CEO himself knows that this is insane due to the fact he sidesteps the entire question when asked in a query. As long as their pockets are lined they don’t seem to care what public opinion they carry.
On top of all the harsh realties of having a career, the threat of layoffs, prices, and wages, you have to live somewhere right?
Good luck with that however considering the home prices are almost 2 times the median salary in the United States. You can observe the increase on this graph created by the U.S. Census Bureau.
On top of all of the stresses of housing, the actual process of even becoming hired and capable of earning is a whole ordeal and a half.
Instagram accounts such as “fuckyouiquit” and “corporate.sween” utilize humor and general reporting in order to expose and communicate the culture found within corporate America and workplaces found throughout the nation.
The sentiment of working being miserable is so commonplace where an account named “attorneyryan” has become popular on updating individuals their rights in the workplace and insuring they are not exploited for their hard work within the workforce.
Overall, with prices, housing, corporate greed, and the state of the workforce in the U.S, it is no surprise that working is a chore that does not guarantee you as much as it did 30 years ago. With awareness, these trends can change and work can be used to live instead of living to work.