With 19 states having raised the minimum wage level, which went into effect at the onset of 2017, many large companies have been left grappling with huge increases in labor costs. The northeast particularly is being hit hard as most of the states in the region are on the increase list: New York (+.70 hrly), Massachusetts (+$1.00 hrly), Vermont (+.40 hrly), Connecticut (+.50 hrly), Maine (+$1.50 hrly) and New Jersey(+.06 hrly). Additionally, in 2016 New York state lawmakers approved measures which will set the NYS minimum hourly wage to $15.00 by 2019, almost a full $4 hourly increase per head.
For many companies, this cost does not come easily and the talk of layoffs is in the air. For some workers, this will even mean being reduced to part-time to minimize company spending on employee benefits. No matter how companies are coping, the issue of how to manage with the new costs weigh heavily.
Luckily, staffing firms are coming to the rescue. The method of coping with the issue comes in revisiting how companies hire. Instead of worrying about how to pay a larger group of minimally qualified employees a higher salary, companies are reaching out to staffing agencies to hire more qualified employees with salaries they deserve. A single vetted and qualified $12.00 an hour laborer can possibly do the same quality job as 3 unqualified laborers, previously being paid less.
Furthermore, many companies are reportedly finding that when they have more qualified people, they spend less on training overheads. Without the fruitless lay time that occurs when training new laborers, there is a significant increase in production. This is especially true for factory and manufacturing workers for whom costly special training staff is often needed.
