Most definitely, slaving away at a dead end job not earning anything is sucking up tons of those employee's opportunities by keeping them unavailable.

The answer is yes. In a functioning modern capitalist economy, workers must be able to choose if and where they work.

A good way to think about this is to frame the question on yourself: should I be forced to work for less than a living wage? Should the state subsidise my employer in order for her to underpay me?