Strome Business Minute With Dr. Jeff Tanner

I’m Jeff Tanner, Dean of the Strome College of Business at Old Dominion University and this is a Strome Business Minute. Several bills to raise the minimum wage over time to fifteen dollars are being presented in our General Assembly. Other places have already done so with these results. Fast food employees will make ten to twenty percent more but over ten percent will lose their jobs. In Seattle, the net effect of a minimum wage hike was a reduction in earnings as hourly workers had their hours cut. Another likely effect is increased automation, as it becomes cheaper to replace people with machines. The federal government expects ten percent of affected workers to lose their jobs, but the tight labor market may reduce the impact. Wages have already risen for some but wage hikes without stronger upskilling programs may leave many workers unemployed. To learn more, visit odu.edu/business. This Strome Business Minute is presented by the Strome College of Business at Old Dominion University.