Gas prices are getting so expensive that at least one employer is raising wages to help workers at the pump.
“As a man who built a business designing and manufacturing amplifiers, guitar pedals and power supplies, Paul Shedden knows about volume.
So when Shedden, the president of Mission Engineering in Petaluma, Calif., saw gasoline prices exceed $5 per gallon at a local Costco COST, +1.73% — a retailer known for cheaper gas — the number spoke volumes to him.
And so he gave a $2-an-hour raise for seven California-based workers who commute every day, including one with an hour-long, one-way drive. Working from home isn’t an option at Engineering, given the hands-on work, Shedden noted.
The raise hit paychecks in early March and will add approximately $4,000 per employee over the year, said Shedden.
The $2-an-hour raise was reflected in paychecks in early March, and will add approximately $4,000 per employee over the year.
That’s an estimated $28,000 drag on the small business’ bottom line — all to take some sting out of gas prices that have been breaking records since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as the months of hot inflation broiling wallets before that . . .
Shedden said he was applying a lesson he learned from his father, who ran his own company for years drafting the schematics and technical plans that turn architectural visions into real-life buildings. ‘My dad taught me growing up, and I totally believe it then and I believe it now, that your staff are probably your most valuable resource,’ he said.”
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