During the recession, American companies found an effective new way to boost profits. It was called “not paying people.” “Not paying people” tends to be justified in two ways: a fake crisis (“Unfortunately, we can’t afford to pay you at this time…”) or a false promise (“Working for nearly nothing now will get you a good job later”). In reality, profits are soaring and poorly compensated labor tends to lead to more poorly compensated labor. Zero-opportunity employers are refusing to pay people because they can get away with it.
