美国国家公共电台 NPR Solving The 'Wage Puzzle': Why Aren't Paychecks Growing?

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NOEL KING, HOST:

A basic principle of economics is that when demand for something goes up, the cost of it goes up, too. So economists² wonder why today's high demand for workers isn't translating into bigger increases in pay. Even Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has called it a puzzle. As NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports, there are a couple of factors that could help explain it.

YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE³: Economist¹ Dean Baker⁴ is among those who worry that, despite the strong economy, American workers aren't seeing big enough increases in pay.

DEAN BAKER: If wages are stagnating⁵, that means that we're doing all these great technological⁶ innovations, but most people really don't see the benefit of that.

NOGUCHI: Baker, who is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says worker pay decreased during and after the Great Recession and has yet to make up that lost ground. At a time when employers are struggling to find available workers, wages are increasing at a relatively⁷ modest rate of 2.7 percent a year - not much more than inflation. Many economists say that's lower than it should be.

Some point to slow productivity growth, which makes it harder for employers to raise pay. And some argue recent wage growth may not be as bad as it appears. Russ Roberts is a researcher at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He says just looking at wage growth doesn't give you the whole picture. He says a strong job market is creating a lot of new opportunities. Retiring baby boomers, for example, are leaving their positions, creating openings for others.

RUSS ROBERTS: So their wages are quite high. They're being replaced by lower-wage workers who are younger and just more likely to be just starting out.

NOGUCHI: Which is why, Robert says, he's not alarmed by low wage growth.

ROBERTS: I think we should be careful in assuming that something's broken because a tight labor⁸ market isn't leading to great wage increases. I would just simply say that the wage increases we observe are probably understating the actual gains to workers in terms of their standard of living.

NOGUCHI: Another factor could help explain the wage puzzle. Employers say they're spending more on benefits and rewards outside of pay and that overall compensation is growing faster than wages. Alison Avalos is director of research at WorldatWork, an association that studies compensation. She says companies are offering better health insurance coverage⁹, flexible work arrangements and wellness programs.

ALISON AVALOS: What we're seeing is that employees say, you know, what I get out of working is not just a paycheck anymore.

NOGUCHI: Avalos could not quantify how much more employers are paying for such benefits but says their budgets reflect these shifting priorities. Bob Wesselkamper agrees. He heads rewards and benefits consulting at Korn Ferry, a recruiting firm.

BOB WESSELKAMPER: There's a changing balance of what drives an employee to move to a new organization. And sometimes it's not always pay.

NOGUCHI: Wesselkamper says six years ago, his company's survey ranked pay the No. 1 reason workers switched jobs. This year, culture and purpose ranked highest. All of these dynamics¹⁰ have played out at Four Seasons Plumbing¹¹ in Asheville, N.C. Owner Max Rose says last year, two of his staff of 20 left, worsening his worker shortage.

MAX ROSE: It really hurt us. We were desperate.

NOGUCHI: Like others in the industry, Rose has had to hike his salaries. But on top of that, his company started offering a 3 percent match on retirement¹² plans and covering all health care costs. It also increased vacation time and eliminated overnight shifts. That's a sea change from a dozen years ago, when Rose started the company.

ROSE: Yeah. When we first started, we didn't - (laughter) we didn't do any of this stuff (laughter), especially with retirement and health care.

NOGUCHI: Even so, Rose says he still spends a lot of time trying to fill open positions and recruiting apprentices¹³ to train.

ROSE: The biggest thing we've tried to do is culture-building and trying to portray¹⁴ this idea that there is room for advancement¹⁵ and that we're a growing company.

NOGUCHI: He says that's shifted more of his attention from customers to employees.

ROSE: Now we have to make sure the employees are happy, and then the customers are happy. And really, I feel that if we focus on keeping our employees happy, then we don't have to worry about our customers.

NOGUCHI: Tomorrow, the Labor Department's July employment reports will offer a fresh look at wage increases.

Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.

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