@Baldimo,
Quote: they just hire less people or find a way to get the job done without a person involved
You are parroting a common assumption that labor rates equal labor costs.
I have five very good friends who work at a Walmart in a nearby town.
Two of them are in management.
They tell me that the situation in their store is approaching a critical point.
The entry level wage is so low that they can't attract enough workers and now management is having to stock the shelves at night(salaried; no overtime) and there's still not enough product on display.
The turnover in employees has raised the cost of training and the amount of in-store theft has exploded due to poor morale and a lack of company loyalty.
Contrast that to the situation at Costco where wages are approximately 56% higher.
From the Harvard Business Review:
Quote:In return for its generous wages and benefits, Costco gets one of the most loyal and productive workforces in all of retailing, and, probably not coincidentally, the lowest shrinkage (employee theft) figures in the industry.
While Sam’s Club and Costco generated $37 billion and $43 billion, respectively, in U.S. sales last year, Costco did it with 38% fewer employees—admittedly, in part by selling to higher-income shoppers and offering more high-end goods. As a result, Costco generated $21,805 in U.S. operating profit per hourly employee, compared with $11,615 at Sam’s Club. Costco’s stable, productive workforce more than offsets its higher costs.
http://hbr.org/2006/12/the-high-cost-of-low-wages/ar/1
