Businesses Decry Illinois Minimum Wage Increase

Rip Van Winkle (artist unknown) composited with
JonasDeRo's Ruined New York 

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed into law recently a state minimum wage increase to $15 per hour over a period of several years, during which inflation will keep up, rendering this action nothing more than just a political ploy.

Ideally for Springfield, Illinois alone this is alleged to affect the wages of over 36,610 people who currently earn less than $15 per hour.

If the minimum wage was pegged to inflation since it's inception, in today's dollars it would be over $23 per hour anyway. If the minimum wage was pegged to productivity we probably wouldn't have so much inflation.

So businesses trot out their pundits with the stale threats that they would do the following which have consequences:

• Leave the state of Illinois
• Start over from scratch somewhere else with build-out expenses and zero regular customers in an area potentially already occupied by competitors? Not likely.
• Close their businesses
• And do what? Find a Job? Not likely.
• Lay off their employees
• And sacrifice customer service, quality production and morale? Not likely.
• Cut their employees hours
• Already working with a bare-minimum staff, just how much more efficient can you get beyond replacing your full-time workers with only part-time workers?

Another stale argument is that minimum wage jobs are meant only for young students getting entry level experiences. Well I have news for you Rip Van Winkle, those jobs are not as upwardly mobile as they once were after World War II up through the 1970's. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Food prep and retail workers represent the largest group of employees earning less than $15 per hour and the median age is 37.

So for businesses planning on leaving the state I recommend the following GIF:

via GIPHY