美国国家公共电台 NPR Solving The 'Wage Puzzle': Why Aren't Paychecks Growing?

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

A basic principle of economics is that when demand for something goes up, the cost of it goes up, too. So economists² wonder why today's high demand for workers isn't translating into bigger increases in pay. Even Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has called it a puzzle. As NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports, there are a couple of factors that could help explain it.

YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE³: Economist¹ Dean Baker⁴ is among those who worry that, despite the strong economy, American workers aren't seeing big enough increases in pay.

DEAN BAKER: If wages are stagnating⁵, that means that we're doing all these great technological⁶ innovations, but most people really don't see the benefit of that.

NOGUCHI: Baker, who is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says worker pay decreased during and after the Great Recession and has yet to make up that lost ground. At a time when employers are struggling to find available workers, wages are increasing at a relatively⁷ modest rate of 2.7 percent a year - not much more than inflation. Many economists say that's lower than it should be.

Some point to slow productivity growth, which makes it harder for employers to raise pay. And some argue recent wage growth may not be as bad as it appears. Russ Roberts is a researcher at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He says just looking at wage growth doesn't give you the whole picture. He says a strong job market is creating a lot of new opportunities. Retiring baby boomers, for example, are leaving their positions, creating openings for others.

RUSS ROBERTS: So their wages are quite high. They're being replaced by lower-wage workers who are younger and just more likely to be just starting out.

NOGUCHI: Which is why, Robert says, he's not alarmed by low wage growth.

ROBERTS: I think we should be careful in assuming that something's broken because a tight labor⁸ market isn't leading to great wage increases. I would just simply say that the wage increases we observe are probably understating the actual gains to workers in terms of their standard of living.

NOGUCHI: Another factor could help explain the wage puzzle. Employers say they're spending more on benefits and rewards outside of pay and that overall compensation is growing faster than wages. Alison Avalos is director of research at WorldatWork, an association that studies compensation. She says companies are offering better health insurance coverage⁹, flexible work arrangements and wellness programs.

ALISON AVALOS: What we're seeing is that employees say, you know, what I get out of working is not just a paycheck anymore.

NOGUCHI: Avalos could not quantify how much more employers are paying for such benefits but says their budgets reflect these shifting priorities. Bob Wesselkamper agrees. He heads rewards and benefits consulting at Korn Ferry, a recruiting firm.

BOB WESSELKAMPER: There's a changing balance of what drives an employee to move to a new organization. And sometimes it's not always pay.

NOGUCHI: Wesselkamper says six years ago, his company's survey ranked pay the No. 1 reason workers switched jobs. This year, culture and purpose ranked highest. All of these dynamics¹⁰ have played out at Four Seasons Plumbing¹¹ in Asheville, N.C. Owner Max Rose says last year, two of his staff of 20 left, worsening his worker shortage.

MAX ROSE: It really hurt us. We were desperate.

NOGUCHI: Like others in the industry, Rose has had to hike his salaries. But on top of that, his company started offering a 3 percent match on retirement¹² plans and covering all health care costs. It also increased vacation time and eliminated overnight shifts. That's a sea change from a dozen years ago, when Rose started the company.

ROSE: Yeah. When we first started, we didn't - (laughter) we didn't do any of this stuff (laughter), especially with retirement and health care.

NOGUCHI: Even so, Rose says he still spends a lot of time trying to fill open positions and recruiting apprentices¹³ to train.

ROSE: The biggest thing we've tried to do is culture-building and trying to portray¹⁴ this idea that there is room for advancement¹⁵ and that we're a growing company.

NOGUCHI: He says that's shifted more of his attention from customers to employees.

ROSE: Now we have to make sure the employees are happy, and then the customers are happy. And really, I feel that if we focus on keeping our employees happy, then we don't have to worry about our customers.

NOGUCHI: Tomorrow, the Labor Department's July employment reports will offer a fresh look at wage increases.

Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.

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1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

5 stagnating   

v.停滞，不流动，不发展( stagnate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I feel I'm stagnating in this job. 我觉得，干这份工作我没有长进。
• ITT was stagnating when Geneen became the chief executive officer in 1959. 1959年吉宁出任行政总负责人时，国际电话电报公司正处于不景气时期。 来自辞典例句

6 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

11 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

13 apprentices   

学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were mere apprentices to piracy. 他们干海盗仅仅是嫩角儿。
• He has two good apprentices working with him. 他身边有两个好徒弟。

14 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

15 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。