Today I had a meeting with the Regional Business Director of the Fortune 500 company I work for. One of the topics of discussion I brought up was wages. I believe the company pays very low for the market we are in, for myself and my direct reports. While I’ve been going on about what I’ve perceived to be low wages to deaf ears for years, I mentioned today that an annual raise maxed out at 3% is technically a pay cut when inflation in sitting at 7+% … not to mention having to pay $85 to fill up my JETTA this morning.
The response was … it’s not the companies responsibility to compensate for inflation…. And yes the general public is feeling the price of inflation… but no one knows how long it will take for a correction. He did concede that he would look into raising the base pay of my direct reports by $5-$6….I didn’t argue because I’ve learned to take a “win” while navigating corporate America.
But at the same time I’m thinkin… as a company we are on our third rate hike in about 6 months. Imagine being a CSR explaining to irate customers on a daily basis why their bill is so much higher … yet for all the same reasons your PAY has not increased a single cent. And most of us are doing MORE due to turnover and crappy management. Smh ….at this point someone needs to hit the DO OVER button!!