Our Experts | Sheila Cox, President of Selectemp
In today’s job market, there just isn’t any room for “low-hanging fruit” positions. That is, jobs that do not offer competitive wages, or only offer minimum wage.
As a staffing firm, we have taken a stand whenever possible on only working with companies that offer competitive wages. While we want business from all clients, we simply must refuse taking orders to fill minimum wage positions when we have comparable openings that are currently paying more. Here are the reasons why:
- The workforce is currently controlled by talent, not businesses. This means there are more employed people than ever in recent years, and the pools of talent to choose from are incredibly shallow. Sometimes you can find rare gems, but for the most part there is a reason people are still in these available pools.
- Because highly-skilled talent is already employed, you need to entice them. What will make them leave their current jobs? Higher wages, a majority of the time.
Wages are the first thing a person will notice, and they might not yet be considering other benefits down the road. Workers also look for great benefit packages with better sick leave, PTO, 401K options, maternity/paternity leave, child care expense reimbursement and health and wellness perks. They also look for performance bonuses, opportunity for growth and a good culture.
- Your competitors are already offering more than you. I welcome businesses to look at my company’s job board. They will often see identical open positions with higher wages or better benefits. Why would a candidate apply to your $11/hour job over a competitor’s $14/hour job when looking at them side by side? They wouldn’t.
- Some states mandate laws to encourage higher-paying jobs. In fact, in Oregon, where Selectemp operates, the state encourages workers to turn down jobs that pay anything less than $12/hour by offering unemployment as an acceptable alternative.
If a person has the opportunity to work for $11/hour or stay home on unemployment for $11/hour, which option do you think they would choose? Probably staying at home on unemployment rather than working for the same wages.
- You want them to work for you, and stay with you. When you go out of your way to hire a talented worker, you don’t want them to bounce to another company as soon as they see a better opportunity elsewhere. You not only need to entice them from the start with wages, but you need to think about those other benefits that will keep them in your company.
To stay competitive and to ensure the BEST QUALIFIED CANDIDATE for our customers, we encourage higher wages and benefit packages, and we ask that you give us a call today: (541) 746-6200, or visit our website at selectemp.jobs.
