Those who believe in "the market sets the price" would jump to this conclusion.
Mine Host realises that he has to work with market forces, (supply& demand, competitive bidding, blah blah blah)
However, to pay such wages Mine Host would have to drastically increase prices. Would the market pay triple the price for liquor? Particularly take-away beer & rum?
The answer to the above question settles the matter.
Would increasing the wages attract a greater number of job applicants? Some people will not work in a pub no matter what. Anecdotes abound of employers who cannot lure fresh graduates with salaries of $100,000+ and a house/car package.
Would increasing the wages attract applicants who have an aptitude for pub work? Quite possibly some of them would, although Mine Host is loathe to pay mining-size wages to greenhorns while they learn, with no guarantee the greenhorn will stick around to be worth the money they were paid to train.
3 comments:
Steve,
Just some thoughts from a friend.
I don't think at a pub you could pay the same wages as the mining industry. Mining companies, such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Newmont etc. are multi-billion dollar affairs, often floated on the stock exchange.
Pubs are rarely floated on the stock exchange.
I don't think you could pay such wages, and even if you did, it wouldn't be good for your pub.
None of the pubs around Dumbleyung struggle to find backpackers to work 3-6 month stints. And our location is worse than yours, unless you are located on an oil rig. You are in Queensland, right?
Go and see an employment agency that deals with backpackers. Many of them from foreign cultures (particularly europe) are keen to see what life is like in the Australian bush. And most Europeans can speak good English. One tree nursery near our town employs 8 attractive girls (at least 3 of whom can speak fluent English) for minimum wage.
Ah thanks Yobbo, for triggering a long dormant blog post topic. Will post soon on the joys & otherwise of dealing with backpackers & backpacker employment agencies.
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