Much has been discussed with jobs, minimum wage, poverty, the income gap and unemployment. One of my central themes is that wages are not the full story when it comes to compensation. Another is that minimum wage jobs are NOT meant to be careers and certainly are not meant to be a means by which we raise a family.
Rather, these jobs are meant to be the first rung in the employment ladder. In addition to modest wages they teach job skills; customer service, scheduling, listening, task completion and plain old “boss respect”.
An old story that emphasizes this point:
Here’s one reason why Volkswagen likes hiring former fast-food employees for its 2.5 million-square-foot plant here in the heart of the Tennessee Valley.
“Inexperience is a key,” said Gary Booth, director of the Volkswagen Academy training operation. “Some of our best employees came from McDonald’s. They know standardized work.”
Booth, strolling the halls of Volkswagen’s 163,000-square-foot training facility connected to the plant, said he doesn’t want to hire assembly-line workers who have developed “bad habits” at previous manufacturing jobs.
I work at a highly specialized center and I continually advocate hiring local McDonald managers to fill our centers.
Just sayin’.