Reporting from Bloomberg:
With a median household income of $98,880, it rates as one of the most affluent counties in the country. Residents of Carmel brag about their excellent public schools, walkable neighborhoods, and exciting new restaurants.
So right away, this is a group of people who get paid very well themselves, but when it comes to paying others, they seem to take issue with that. Seems like these business owners don't want to pay what it takes to live where they are offering work.
Down the road at Metro Plastics… is struggling to fill four vacancies on the overnight shift. The company raised its starting wage from $10 an hour last year to $15 an hour. But temp agencies tell Krol she’ll need to offer at least $17 an hour to get anyone to bite.
For reference, the MIT living wage calculator shows a bare living wage in Hamilton County, Indiana is $15.07. Seventeen an hour is not much more.
At Vibenomics, a streaming audio advertising company in Fishers, co-founder and CEO Brent Oakley says he’s done away with late-night work marathons, embraced flexible working hours and remote work, and raised salaries.
So, he's had to improved the working conditions for his workers? Why wasn't he willing to do this before? Obviously, he could have.
The couple says they’d like to open another restaurant in town one day. But that will have to wait until the red-hot labor market cools a bit.
Ah, ok. Here's the kicker. The business owners are waiting for some hard times to fall, and that's when they hope to begin exploiting labor again. Know that the next time there's a recession, or when you're organizing a union.