As labor shortages persist, hourly workers want more than $15 per hour

Lawmakers may be debating the merits of a $15 per hour minimum wage, but most hourly workers are interested in making much more.

Hourly workers on job discovery platform DirectlyApply searched for jobs with an average salary of $19.43, about 30% higher than the proposed higher minimum wage and 168% more than the current $7.25 per hour federal minimum wage, according to a survey of 2,794 hourly workers in America.

Hourly workers in California had the highest average searched-for salary at $22.41, while Mississippi had the lowest searched-for salary, at $14.74 per hour.

The survey comes as policymakers across the country debate how to tackle a growing number of job vacancies, which the Labor Department estimated at about 8.1 million in March. Critics of the Biden administration blame the $300 in extra unemployment assistance for the labor gaps, while proponents of a higher minimum wage say workers are not willing to work in poor conditions for minimum wage.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/05/26/minimum-wage-15-hourly-workers-more.html