This practice is rampant across industries and only getting worse. We must demand an end to it through legislation.
Zatore@lemm.ee 2 months ago
shouldn’t the federal minimum wage apply to everyone who is doing work in the US? This seems like fraud
Bonskreeskreeskree@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Empricorn@feddit.nl 2 months ago
We may not agree with it, but this is exactly the same thing as an overseas call center. They’re not physically located in the US and are not subject to any laws here.
pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.de 2 months ago
They aren’t doing work in the US though.
Zatore@lemm.ee 2 months ago
That is naive. I hope you don’t have any employees
shalafi@lemmy.world 2 months ago
$3 is loads more than the Philippines minimum wage. I think it’s $8-$10 per day.
Also, y’all are thinking of what $3 buys in the US. The purchasing power is far different. $3 buys a lot over there.
I’ll ask my wife when she gets home, but I bet $3 is equivalent to $10-$12 in the US.
halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 2 months ago
You misunderstand. We aren’t unaware or ignoring the purchasing power difference, that’s obvious, everyone knows currency differs. The issue is and always has been the outsourcing to increase profit in general, regardless of country or purchasing disparity. There is no reason to use a teleconferenced cashier for a retail location other than minimizing employee pay, not just by paying the minimum required here but literally taking a local job and shipping it overseas so you can instead pay what would be a clear poverty wage here, while undoubtedly having record profits like all these companies end up with.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 2 months ago
So, there actually is a reason to do this beyond pay, but clearly pay is the actual reason they do it.
A restaurant has a set amount of staff. What happens if a few are sick and they have trouble finding someone to fill in?
A remote agent like this could be from a larger organization being contracted out and you’d never have to worry about not having someone to be available.
halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Or they just hire enough staff to run the business in the first place. Something that used to just be how you operated a business. If the business wants to gamble on regularly operating without enough employees to cover multiple sick calls then they need to deal with the results of that decision.
Pull from other locations to cover, or God forbid, a manager actually covers a shift, or just close the location for a day if they cannot cover it. You know, what every business that operates with employees deals with.
You’re making excuses and trying to find a justification for a fucking disgraceful, greedy choice by the owner of this business.
intensely_human@lemm.ee 2 months ago
This makes it sound like your problem isn’t someone getting hurt; it’s someone doing well.
aidan@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Everyone complains about small businesses being driven out, especially in NYC. Their two biggest costs are rent and labor, so of course they try to minimize both of them.
halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 2 months ago
You know what’s cheaper than hiring a cashier and teleconferencing them from the Philippines?
The owner running the cash register. You know, like nearly every non-chain restaurant in the country.
Miaou@jlai.lu 2 months ago
I mean, yeah probably. That’s not the point. The point is that it’s a race to the bottom for people living in higher cost-of-living places.
Zatore@lemm.ee 2 months ago
I really don’t care how much buying power they have over there. A fair days work here in the US should be paid in turn.
intensely_human@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Well, if you’re gonna advocate for people, you should care what their experience is.
explodicle@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
No, you can always advocate for someone to get paid more regardless of your knowledge of conversion rates.
shalafi@lemmy.world 2 months ago
And flood the islands with US currency? Seems that would lead to massive inflation and hurt the people not working “in” the US.
Zatore@lemm.ee 2 months ago
So what your saying is they should be paid less because their currency is trash? That’s a logical fallacy.
PunnyName@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Okay. Imagine the purchasing power of someone who made the NYC minimum wage of $16/hr.
Maybe pay people for their time, not what the exchange rate “might” be.
intensely_human@lemm.ee 2 months ago
If I’m paying NYC minimum wages, I’m getting someone from NYC, in NYC.
Sorry lady from the Phillipines. You’re out of a job because they put in this new “outsourcing must be at local wage rates” law.
Einridi@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Depends on the region, lowest is about 350 php or 6 usd per day. Most of the call centers are in the big cities however where wages are a bit higher and they well enough to be thought of as a decent job.