Dan Price’s fair wage tweet creates a stir on Twitter

Dan Price

Twitter is not new to groundbreaking tweets that instantly grab the spotlight. At the moment, Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price’s tweet is creating quite a stir on Twitter as it has kickstarted the discourse on a fair wage. What exactly is a fair wage? Is it possible that fair wage generalizations are problematic as some critics have pointed out in response to Price’s tweet. In the tweet, he proudly declares that his company pays a minimum wage of $80k, which might come off as relatively exorbitant to other employers who are struggling to keep their heads above the water. In the tweet, Price can be seen indirectly taking a jibe at employers for not paying a fair wage. The question is if this is on par with reality and if the employment situation will get any better if the employees take up Price’s example.

My company pays an $80k min wage, lets people work wherever they want, has full benefits, paid parental leave, etc.

We get over 300 applicants per job.

“No one wants to work” is a hell of a way of saying “companies won’t pay workers a fair wage and treat them with respect.”

— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) August 8, 2022

Twitter Reacts

Price’s tweet attracted the attention of a good number of Twitter users, particularly employers who weren’t completely in agreement with his points. On the other hand, Price’s wage policy seemed quite appealing to potential workers who were eager to ask if his company was hiring. Is the tweet going to pose a threat for employers as it sets a rather high benchmark?

Perhaps this is the right time to talk about better opportunities as against reasonable opportunities.

Hiring any software engineers? My son is looking for a better opportunity.

— Mr Positivity (@GlenEllynDad1) August 9, 2022

Or maybe its time to redefine the minimum wage system

It seems that so often the CEO/senior manager/whoever thinks that the salary they got in the same/similar job 20+ years ago is still somehow the benchmark now 🤷‍♂️

— Simon R (@SimonRTweets) August 8, 2022

I really don’t understand where the “no one wants to work” thing is coming from because unemployment is at like 3% right now.

— poverty is a death sentence (@PovertyDeath) August 8, 2022

What is the exact problem here? The lack of well-paying jobs or a dearth of qualified personnel?

Such a general statement that truly doesn’t reflect the current reality. I know employers that have posted great paying jobs 2-3 times because the applicants are not qualified for the position. These are jobs with great pay, full benefits, paid parent leave as well.

— Daniel Crepeault (@DJRB2006) August 8, 2022

Doesn’t that sound a bit anachronistic in a time and age when work from home has become the new normal?

I guarantee that your people are not learning/teaching each other as well as they would be if they were in an office environment, which means you are sacrificing development of your employees to save on the cost of office space. A choice you any your employees make.

— TwoYutes (@MFC38357854) August 8, 2022

This might be a necessary reality check. Not everyone can afford to look at the world through rose-tinted glasses.

Once gain the millionaire running a multi billion dollar company provides a worthless “hot take” without providing any actual plans. Forgetting 98% of all American business are classified as small business, and barely earn 1-5 million total revenue on 1-5% profit margins.

— Keith (@ChazzonKe) August 8, 2022

Well, as the saying goes, ‘To each their own.”

Definitely not a fair comparison based on type of business so try again. I guarantee if you had a warehouse business, with exponential amounts of upfront cost, entry level type employees you wouldn’t be paying $80k minimum.

— KC Trading (@KCTrading09) August 8, 2022

You might perhaps rethink the ‘5+ years experience’ part for intern roles.

Wrong Dan. My company offers $15.50 per hour plus benefits (catered pizza lunch on the first Friday of each month).

Yet NOBODY wants to apply for our accounting intern roles (5+ years experience required)

— John W. Rich (Fake Tech Exec) (@Cokedupoptions) August 8, 2022

We wouldn’t be adding 300-500k jobs per month, every month this year, with unemployment under 4%, if people didn’t want to work.
“No one wants to work” is code for “it’s getter harder to exploit workers”

— Jason Cross (@JasonCross00) August 8, 2022

Will check your status in 2 yrs. Most owners who attempt to lavish their employees find their cost of operation beyond affordable after just a few quarters, but hey maybe you exist in a market vacuum with no Competition. Most people just expect too much for their low value skills

— garrett gilman (@belisariusak) August 8, 2022

Now that is a reasonable query.

Gosh I really like your mentality towards paying workers well, but it’s really hard for us smaller companies to get to this point.

What advice would you have for owners of companies still finding their stride?

— Cantrip Candles (@CantripCandles) August 8, 2022

While some of the users criticized Price’s fair wage policy stating that it will eventually destroy the business, others were quick to take the CEO’s side by stating that his business has been growing exponentially over the years.