Employees Win in Sunnier Business Climate

A curious thing is happening in South Florida. The cost of doing business is going up for many employers. But so are wages and perks for employees.

That according to a recent report from The Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce’s Council of Economic Advisors, and outlined in the South Florida Sun Sentinel:

“Overall, nearly 80 percent of the leaders report confidence in their business growth throughout 2014. But nearly all are feeling upward pressures on wages, benefits, materials and other costs.”

This includes one business leader who said he’s balancing a sales increase of 25 to 30 percent and a backlog at “the highest it has been in many years” with increased prices for his materials and products.

These local business leaders are also factoring in the value of good workers as key to a robust business. The healthier a business is, employers will go to greater lengths to keep these good workers around.

In many cases, such as those cited in South Florida, employers reward their workers with competitive wages or a raise. Others,like JCN CEO member Scott Verner get creative:

 “Scott Verner, chief executive of Nipro Diagnostics, a diabetic-testing equipment maker based in Fort Lauderdale, said his company’s health insurance costs went up by $2 million in the past year.

Instead of hiking employees’ contribution or changing health plans, Nipro on Jan. 1 instituted a “no-smoking campus,” to urge employees toward better health and trim costs.”

 

The South Florida story is encouraging because business leaders there are voluntarily responding to the demand for good employees, not because of government interference.  

When businesses are free to explore their options as they look to balance their ledgers, we get responsible and realistic results that are fair to everyone.