I saw a job listing a while ago for a customer service agent for a major airline. There were a laundry list of duties and responsibilities and the listing boasted a 'competitive wage' of $15.80/hour. According to Indeed.com –
Competitive pay is a term that refers to an employer offering a salary that is equal to or exceeds the industry standard for similar jobs in the same geographical area.
Basically this means that if the industry standard is $15.50/hour (for example) a wage of $15.80 would be considered “competitive”. In the real world the word 'competitive' means to far exceed, or to go above and beyond. But in employer speak it means something else.
It's quite likely that the phrase “competitive wages” has really taken off because “living wages” would be anathema to these sociopathic scum. But competitive wages are also a race to the bottom. While corporate profits outpace inflation by leaps and bounds, “competitive wages” keep trailing behind; all the while reinforcing the illusion that workers are getting more where in fact, they are getting less.