434,000 jobs could be lost by 2021.
How Dangerous Will a $15 Minimum Wage Be For New York?
How dangerous will New York’s minimum wage hike prove to
be in the long run?
As the wage increase reverberates across the state, small
businesses will continue to struggle with the results of a $15 minimum wage
hike, according to a new report. Earlier this year, on April 4, Gov. Andrew
Cuomo signed into law a $6 minimum wage hike for a range of businesses in New
York City and counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, phased in by 2018
and 2021, respectively.
By 2021, the state could see a net loss of 434,000 jobs, according to a
report by Heritage Foundation.
And that’s just for starters.
“Starting wages of $15.00 per hour mean full-time
employees must create at least $38,700 a year in value for their employers
(including wages, employer payroll taxes, and Obamacare-mandate penalties),”
writes James Sherk, a Research Fellow at Heritage Foundation. “Such a high
hurdle would make it much harder for less-experienced and less-skilled workers
to find full-time jobs. Many of these workers are not yet productive enough to
create that much value for their employers and businesses will not hire them at
a loss.”
According to the report, “many businesses might respond to
a $15 mandate by eliminating positions, cutting hours, and looking for new ways
to implement labor-saving technology. Some companies might have to face
shutting down or leaving America entirely to cope with the additional
expenses.”
