The tricky problem of sticky wages

by on October 7, 2005 at 7:12 am in Economics | Permalink

Rick Hartenstein is the Pharmacy Director at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans.  He writes me with a question:

An article in our local paper this morning discussed the phenomenon of  sign-on bonuses at fast food restaurants.  Since this will almost certainly drive up wages in the area, and hospitals are highly dependent upon low wage jobs, I was wondering what you would advise our Human Resources VP to do.  I am an almost daily reader of MR and really appreciated the blogs during the hurricane (I was here at the hospital for 8 days).  Any other observations on wages and prices for us?  One thing is sure – the areas of the city that housed the majority of lower wage workers are obliterated.  We have massive vacancies in these types of jobs as do other employers. 

My response was as follows:

The rise in wages is a good sign because it means that employers are trying to draw workers back to New Orleans.  If employers were packing up and leaving then wages would be falling so there is some hope.  For the hospital Human Resources VP I would suggest that the situation is probably temporary so rather than higher wages he or she may want to follow the lead of the restaurants and offer "signing bonuses" and/or bonuses to be paid after say 6 months on the job.  The reason for this is that it may be very difficult to reduce wages later on – reducing wages typically causes a lot of discontent.  Furthermore, if you keep the wages of older employees constant but, as wages fall, offer newer employees lower wages you will have two people doing the same job being paid different wages.  That is not good for morale either.  In addition, to signing bonuses the hospital might want to think about what it can offer in terms of relocation services, housing, transportation and so forth.  Again, these would be useful temporary measures to draw workers to the hospital without creating a permanent expectation of higher future wages.

Comments are open if you have other suggestions for Rick.

joshg October 7, 2005 at 8:07 am

I guess the obvious problem would be those who take the money and run. If people were’nt willing to take a job at a certain wage, are they going to be willing to continue working the joba t that wage? I suppose their are mostly (non-monetary) costs associated with starting a new job so some signing bonus of less than those costs is a good idea, but there’s an upper limit to what they can offer that will increase their work force.

Peter October 7, 2005 at 10:31 am

I’m not so sure that fast food restaurants and hospitals are even competing for the same workers. Fast food employs mainly part-time workers, especially teens, mothers of small children and sometimes retirees, while most hospital jobs are full-time.

Derek Scruggs October 7, 2005 at 12:01 pm

> If employers were packing up and leaving then wages would be falling so
> there is some hope.

Really? I would think the opposite. If they were staying, the labor pool would be bigger and bonuses wouldn’t be necessary. Then again, if everyone is leaving, there probably isn’t a business anyway. Then again again, the labor pool does not necessarily represent the customer pool. The waiters at nicer restaurants probably don’t eat at them very often.

neil October 7, 2005 at 12:25 pm

Interesting to see just how much more the fast food giants can afford to pay their employees without making business prohibitively costly. Here’s hoping that the wages -do- stick.

spencer October 7, 2005 at 4:22 pm

One of the biggest bottlenecks to attracting labor back into the area is the lack of living spaces. If the hospital has unused rooms, wings, offering free temporary housing might
be a very good way to attract labor.

Noumenon October 8, 2005 at 9:10 am

Dave, your lifestyle is highly dependent on low-wage jobs, so don’t pick.

How about some economics of what size signing bonus to offer, must you compete for the largest or will a smaller one seem to show that your jobs are more desirable to begin with? How about the elasticity of supply of labor after disasters? Ever been studied?

Randall Parker October 9, 2005 at 12:49 am

When labor costs more that is the market’s way to tell you to find ways to get the same work done with less labor.

A hospital should look for ways to reduce the amount of human labor needed to get work done. Management’s job is to find ways to more efficiently use labor and capital. Well, managers faced with higher labor costs should look for ways to change procedures and add in capital to reduce the need for labor.

How about bigger and faster automated floor sweeping machines?

How about hand held electronic devices to send for prescriptions?

How about other electronic communications systems that reduce the need for humans to walk or run to other humans and ask for help?

How about a database that keeps track of labor needs and routes cleaners, drug delivery workers, nurses, and other personnel that allow them to get more done in a single trip through a hospital?

Noumenon October 10, 2005 at 11:06 am

Randall: I’ve never had the diamonds and water paradox thrown at me in that way before. I’ll have to think on it.

Would that make the statement “America’s economy is heavily dependent on cheap oil” self-contradictory?

Randy June 13, 2006 at 8:42 am
onlinecasino September 16, 2006 at 12:33 pm
incest stories September 22, 2006 at 12:18 pm

great work

incest pictures September 22, 2006 at 5:16 pm

ohuenniy site!

incest porn September 24, 2006 at 10:48 am

Mega cool!

jam September 28, 2006 at 12:16 am

Thank you for your work. I will visit your site more ofter from now and I bookmarked it.
enjoy……

mortgage broker October 14, 2006 at 11:41 am
翻译公司 October 26, 2006 at 8:35 pm
翻译公司 October 26, 2006 at 8:37 pm

我是一名GOOGLE左侧排名爱好者,欢迎进我的网站去看看。
google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名 google左侧排名
我是一名GOOGLE排名爱好者,欢迎进我的网站去看看!
google排名 google排名 google排名 google排名 google排名 google排名 google排名 google排名
我是一名GOOGLE优化爱好者,欢迎进我的网站去看看!
google优化 google优化 google优化 google优化 google优化 google优化

honghu November 21, 2006 at 12:37 am

What is World of Warcraft Gold? As a massively multiplayer world of warcraft gold online game, World of Warcraft enables thousands of players to come together online and battle against the world and each other. Players from across the globe can leave the real world behind and undertake grand quests and heroic exploits in a land of fantastic adventure .

insurance quotes March 30, 2007 at 7:27 am

apply for a credit card – apply for a credit card
apply for master card – apply for master card
credit card offers – credit card offers
bad credit report repair – repair bad credit
apply for credit – apply for credit

Edwin June 1, 2007 at 4:37 am

Thanks for the great site i really enjoyed it! [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180634791]phentermine[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635422]buy phentermine online[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635480]phentermine no prescription[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635552]buy phentermine no prescription[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635632]phentermine no prescription needed[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635678]phentermine without prescription[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635749]buy phentermine without prescription[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635836]phentermine 37 5 mg[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635869]cheap phentermine[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635892]buy cheap phentermine[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635918]phentermine overnight[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635940]order phentermine[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635962]discount phentermine[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180635983]herbal phentermine[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180636000]phentermine diet pills[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180636016]natural phentermine[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180636044]valium[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180636233]buy valium[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180636253]order valium[/url] [url=http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/4wheel/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1180636269]discount valium[/url] goodbye

wslmwps July 12, 2007 at 2:36 am

liqingchao 07年7月12日

google排名
google排名
wow gold
wow gold
powerleveling
powerleveling
wow gold
wow gold
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
powerleveling
powerleveling
wow power level
wow power level
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft power leveling
world of warcraft power leveling
hongkong hotel
hongkong hotel
beijing tour
beijing tour
翻译公司
翻译公司
上海翻译公司

上海翻译公司
北京翻译公司
北京翻译公司
北京搬家公司
北京搬家公司
è´§æž¶
红外测温仪
红外测温仪
超声波测厚仪
超声波测厚仪
超声波探伤仪
超声波探伤仪
频闪仪
频闪仪
涂层测厚仪
涂层测厚仪
电火花检测仪
电火花检测仪
google排名
仓库
仓库
仓库出租
仓库出租
物流园区
物流园区
集团电话
集团电话
四环素牙
口腔常识
口腔常识

口腔医生
口腔医生
网站设计
网站设计
多媒体
监控
监控
监控系统
监控系统
门禁
门禁
门禁系统
门禁系统
搬家公司
搬家公司
条码打印机
条码打印机
牙周炎
牙周炎

摆闸
痤疮
痤疮
色斑
色斑
黄褐斑
黄褐斑
青春痘
青春痘
口腔医生
口腔医生
口腔
口腔
口腔医院
口腔医院
口腔科
口腔科
三星集团电话机
呼叫中心
电话交换机
交换机
呼叫中心
测厚仪
测温仪
停车场
道闸

cheap Silkroad gold
cheap Silkroad gold
Silkroad gold
Silkroad gold
Silkroad Online gold
Silkroad Online gold
sro gold
sro gold
Archlord gold
Archlord gold
cheap Archlord gold
cheap Archlord gold
Archlord Online gold
Archlord Online gold
buy cheap Archlord gold
buy cheap Archlord gold
Dofus kamas
Dofus kamas
cheap Dofus kamas
cheap Dofus kamas
Dofus gold
Dofus gold
Dofus money
Dofus money
Rappelz Rupees
Rappelz Rupees
Rappelz gold
Rappelz gold
cheap Rappelz Rupees
cheap Rappelz Rupees

hyangel July 13, 2007 at 1:47 am

houyuping 07年7月13日

google排名
google排名
wow gold
wow gold
powerleveling
powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
power leveling
power leveling
wow power level
wow power level
Ddo plat
Ddo plat
FFXI Gil
FFXI Gil
GW Gold
GW Gold
GW Power Leveling
GW Power Leveling
RS Gold
RS Gold

RS Power Leveling
RS Power Leveling
Lotro Gold
Lotro Gold
Lotro Power leveling
Lotro Power leveling
翻译公司
翻译公司
上海翻译公司
上海翻译公司
北京翻译公司
北京翻译公司
监控
è´§æž¶
è´§æž¶
è´§æž¶
涂层测厚仪
涂层测厚仪
翻译公司
仓库
仓库
仓库出租
仓库出租
物流园区
物流园区
红外测温仪
红外测温仪

超声波测厚仪
超声波测厚仪
超声波探伤仪
超声波探伤仪
频闪仪
频闪仪
涂层测厚仪
涂层测厚仪
电火花检测仪
电火花检测仪
google排名
门禁
门禁
门禁系统
门禁系统
搬家
搬家公司
北京搬家公司
光盘制作
光盘印刷
光盘印刷
搬家公司
激光打标机
搬家公司
北京搬家公司
hongkong hotel
hongkong hotel
beijing tour
beijing tour
集团电话
集团电话
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow power level
wow power level
china tour
china tour
青春痘
青春痘

摆闸
痤疮
痤疮
色斑
色斑
黄褐斑
黄褐斑
青春痘
青春痘
口腔医生
口腔医生
口腔
口腔
口腔医院
口腔医院
口腔科
口腔科
三星集团电话机
呼叫中心
电话交换机
交换机
呼叫中心
测厚仪
测温仪
停车场
道闸

hyangel July 18, 2007 at 11:09 pm

houyuping 07年7月19日

google排名
google排名
wow gold
wow gold
powerleveling
powerleveling
wow gold
wow gold
world of warcraft gold
world of warcraft gold
powerleveling
powerleveling
power leveling
power leveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft power leveling
world of warcraft power leveling
cheap wow powerleveling
cheap wow powerleveling
cheap wow power leveling
cheap wow power leveling

wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
power leveling
power leveling
wow power level
wow power level
Ddo plat
Ddo plat
FFXI Gil
FFXI Gil
GW Gold
GW Gold
GW Power Leveling
GW Power Leveling
RS Gold
RS Gold
RS Power Leveling
RS Power Leveling
Lotro Gold
Lotro Gold
Lotro Power leveling
Lotro Power leveling
翻译公司
翻译公司
上海翻译公司
上海翻译公司
北京翻译公司
北京翻译公司
监控

è´§æž¶
è´§æž¶
è´§æž¶
涂层测厚仪
涂层测厚仪
翻译公司
仓库
仓库
仓库出租
仓库出租
物流园区
物流园区
超声波探伤仪
超声波探伤仪
google排名
门禁
门禁
门禁系统
门禁系统
搬家
搬家公司
北京搬家公司
光盘制作

光盘印刷
光盘印刷
搬家公司
激光打标机
搬家公司
北京搬家公司
hongkong hotel
hongkong hotel
beijing tour
beijing tour
集团电话
集团电话
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow power level
wow power level
china tour
china tour
青春痘
青春痘
摆闸
痤疮
痤疮
色斑
色斑
黄褐斑
黄褐斑
青春痘
青春痘
三星集团电话机
呼叫中心
电话交换机
交换机
呼叫中心
测厚仪
测温仪
停车场
道闸

wslmwps July 21, 2007 at 3:58 am

liqingchao 07年7月21日

google排名
google排名
wow gold
wow gold
powerleveling
powerleveling
wow gold
wow gold
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
powerleveling
powerleveling
wow power level
wow power level
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft power leveling
world of warcraft power leveling
hong kong hotel
hong kong hotel
beijing tour
beijing tour
rolex replica
rolex replica
超声波探伤仪
超声波探伤仪
翻译公司
翻译公司
上海翻译公司

上海翻译公司
北京翻译公司
北京翻译公司
北京搬家公司
北京搬家公司
超声波探伤仪
超声波探伤仪
google排名
仓库
仓库
仓库出租
仓库出租
物流园区
物流园区
网站设计
网站设计
多媒体
监控
监控
监控系统
监控系统
门禁
门禁
门禁系统
门禁系统
搬家公司
搬家公司
条码打印机
条码打印机

摆闸
痤疮
痤疮
色斑
色斑
黄褐斑
黄褐斑
青春痘
青春痘
呼叫中心
电话交换机
交换机
呼叫中心
cheap Silkroad gold
cheap Silkroad gold
Silkroad gold
Silkroad gold
Silkroad Online gold
Silkroad Online gold
sro gold
sro gold
Archlord gold
Archlord gold
cheap Archlord gold
cheap Archlord gold
Archlord Online gold
Archlord Online gold
buy cheap Archlord gold
buy cheap Archlord gold
Dofus kamas
Dofus kamas
cheap Dofus kamas
cheap Dofus kamas
Dofus gold
Dofus gold
Dofus money
Dofus money
Rappelz Rupees
Rappelz Rupees
Rappelz gold
Rappelz gold
cheap Rappelz Rupees
cheap Rappelz Rupees

gill July 25, 2007 at 3:34 am

wanyamin 07年7月25日

wow gold
wow gold
powerleveling
powerleveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft power leveling
world of warcraft power leveling
cheap wow powerleveling
cheap wow powerleveling
cheap wow power leveling
cheap wow power leveling
beijing tour
beijing tour
beijing
beijing
china tour
china tour
great wall
beijing travel
beijing travel
网站设计
网站设计
多媒体
光盘制作
超声波探伤仪
超声波探伤仪
搬家公司
搬家公司
北京搬家公司
google排名
wow gold
翻译公司
翻译公司
上海翻译公司
上海翻译公司
北京翻译公司
北京翻译公司
è´§æž¶
è´§æž¶
è´§æž¶
仓库

仓库
仓库出租
仓库出租
物流园区
物流园区
痤疮
痤疮
色斑
色斑
黄褐斑
黄褐斑
青春痘
青春痘
电话交换机
交换机
呼叫中心
cheap Silkroad gold
cheap Silkroad gold
Silkroad gold
Silkroad gold
Silkroad Online gold
Silkroad Online gold
sro gold
sro gold
Archlord gold
Archlord gold
cheap Archlord gold
cheap Archlord gold
Archlord Online gold
Archlord Online gold
buy cheap Archlord gold
buy cheap Archlord gold
Dofus kamas
Dofus kamas
cheap Dofus kamas
cheap Dofus kamas
Dofus gold
Dofus gold
Dofus money
Dofus money
Rappelz Rupees
Rappelz Rupees
Rappelz gold
Rappelz gold
cheap Rappelz Rupees
cheap Rappelz Rupees

Missliang August 15, 2007 at 4:24 am

houyuping 07年8月15日

wow gold
wow gold
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft power leveling
world of warcraft power leveling
powerleveling
powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
power leveling
power leveling
wow power level
wow power level
china tour
china tour

翻译公司
翻译公司
上海翻译公司
上海翻译公司
北京翻译公司
北京翻译公司
监控
è´§æž¶
鼓风机
风机
风机
涂层测厚仪
涂层测厚仪
红外测温仪
红外测温仪
超声波测厚仪
超声波测厚仪
超声波探伤仪
超声波探伤仪
频闪仪
频闪仪
涂层测厚仪
涂层测厚仪
电火花检测仪
电火花检测仪

google排名
门禁
门禁
门禁系统
门禁系统
搬家
搬家公司
北京搬家公司
光盘制作
光盘印刷
光盘印刷
搬家公司
激光打标机
搬家公司
北京搬家公司
hongkong hotel
hongkong hotel
beijing tour
beijing tour
集团电话
集团电话
china tour
china tour
青春痘
青春痘

Bape September 29, 2007 at 1:27 am
masinn December 19, 2008 at 4:47 am

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: