MacDonald: Companies should pay people well, not just the bare minimum

A common philosophy among some businesspeople is to pay workers as little as possible. It's the reason we have an affordability crisis now.

Published Sep 07, 2024  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

Hundreds gathered for the annual Ottawa Labour Day march last weekend. Photo by Tony Caldwell /POSTMEDIA

I love hiring people. I wish I got to do it more often.

I work in the film industry. Sometimes, I have a contract that allows me to hire people, and I love it. I have hired camera operators, camera assistants, lighting technicians, editors, animators, writers, translators, actors, sound recordists, narrators, production assistants … the list goes on.

I hire them to perform specific tasks; I’m not a charity. But the most satisfying thing always is being able to hire someone and see how happy they are to be paid well to do their job. The key is to pay them well, not just adequately, to the greatest extent possible. I hope I’m not alone in this.

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A common philosophy among some businesspeople is to pay workers as little as possible, charge as much as possible for products or services, and keep as much profit as possible. That attitude seems inhuman, and counter-productive in the long run. It’s the reason we have an affordability crisis now.

Whether you are a business owner or a worker, I wonder if you have ever asked yourself how you could help other people make more money. Often, we only ask how we can make more money. Or maybe, if we’re feeling noble, we ask how we can help people and make money at the same time. But, these days, it seems the best way to help the most people is to simply help them make more money, if not just give them more money. It’s a paradox. Or a tragedy.

Tech companies such as Uber promise to make it easier for individuals to make money, but for the vast majority, it doesn’t amount to much. Meanwhile, wages are not keeping pace with inflation, and, despite claims of a labour shortage in some sectors, other sectors are being destroyed — often by these same companies.

If the key to any successful business is providing a product or service for which there is enough demand to command a high enough price to make a good profit, what if the thing most in demand is simply money? Because it certainly is. Technology rendered the labour of many people redundant a long time ago, and this promises to continue. But as long as we have the economic system we have, people will still need money to live. How can they get it if there is nothing the market needs them to supply?

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Again, the tech companies have an answer: content. Content of every kind. Serious content, sure, but mostly silly content. Forgettable content. Content that is cheap to make and easy to consume. Content that keeps us addicted to their apps, which they pay for through advertising. But advertising for what? Increasingly, it’s advertising for either more content, or advice on how to get rich making content. If you follow the logic of this, you’ll see that it doesn’t lead anywhere good; it leads to media over-saturation, diminishing returns, and burnout. And ultimately, loneliness, alienation, depression, anxiety and poverty.

There has to be a better way. I think it starts with businesses considering the whole picture, which includes paying workers well, not just the bare minimum.

Matthew A. MacDonald is an Ottawa writer and filmmaker.

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