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Comment by bsbechtel | Hacker News Reader

So raising wages across the board would mean those worse workers who cause higher turnover and other costs are now going to earn the same amount as the better workers who don't cause businesses those problems, right?

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I'm confused. Where did you get this idea from the information "an article has concluded certain businesses that pay more to their employees are more efficient"?

I think the idea is that if the minimum wage is $15, then you'd have to pay $17, $18 to get yourself above the froth of the marginally employable people again and hire the higher-quality workers.

Isn't that good for the workers who are higher quality and were previously earning 15$?

Sure, it's good for them. But it's a little nuts that you can make that kind of money saying "Hello, can I take your order?", when I know welders and millwrights that have decades of experience and uncommon skills that only make $20 an hour.

What I think is going to happen, is that the McDonalds' of the world will fire 75% of their staff, and just turn around the POS system so that the customer punches in their order themselves

Has that happened in other regions with higher minimum wage? E.g. Australia?

But that hasn't actually happened, in the US, for instance.

The parent comment stated if you pay more, you get better workers. Of course that is true, until you have to pay everyone more. Paying someone more money does not magically make them a better worker. Paying more attracts higher quality talent, which allows your business to offer a higher quality product, which allows you to charge a premium and make more money.

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