We shouldn’t and can’t complain about the lack of wage growth in Australia when we as consumers do everything to undermine employment security.
We consumers create the market, companies such as Uber are evil, they cash in on an existing market where barriers to entry are high. Now drivers are exploited, they target the vulnerable who have little options in this low-cost model. If you purchase goods online then you are part of the problem, this creates online shops that do not employ retail staff. The often given excuse is bricks and mortar stores are a rip off, I believe in the online shopping model, if you can – buy locally.
Well, you have to pay staff fairly, you have to cover worker’s compensation, holiday pay, overtime, superannuation and other incidentals and still make a profit. Employing staff comes with costs, we expect benefits ourselves but apparently don’t want to extend this right to retail workers. It is fair to pay a living salary to retail staff, the shop has to pre-purchase goods and have that inventory sit around in the store waiting to be sold. There is a cost to inventory, people complain about a lack of range but never consider this has to be pre-purchased.
If you use a self check-out at a department store then less cashiers are required. You have to ask yourself if putting people out of work is worth the convenience? My attitude is always use the check-out with staff, keep them employed. Online retailing is here to stay, that’s a given so we need to accept. What we also need to accept is retail and service industry workers need to be protected and we as consumers must put local workers first.
Observations in an undemocratic world 