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The biggest reason is the minimum wage, which will rise to $15 by 2021 in the county and by 2022 statewide. I write with some hesitancy, because I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay. When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Here's what the math looks like: I pay my employees $10.50 an hour, plus productivity bonuses. In addition, I pay payroll taxes and one of the highest worker compensation rates in the state. Even still, I could likely absorb a minimum wage as high as $11.50 an hour. But a $15-an-hour wage for my employees translates into $18.90 in costs for me — or just under $40,000 a year per full-time employee.
When the $15 minimum wage is fully phased in, my company would be losing in excess of $200,000 a year (and far more if my workforce grows as anticipated). That may be a drop in the bucket for large corporations, but a small business cannot absorb such losses. I could try to charge more to offset that cost, but my customers —the companies that are looking for someone to produce their clothing line — wouldn’t pay it. The result would be layoffs.
The expected consequences of separating pay from the value added from the work:
Leaving for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice
The biggest reason is the minimum wage, which will rise to $15 by 2021 in the county and by 2022 statewide. I write with some hesitancy, because I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay. When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Here's what the math looks like: I pay my employees $10.50 an hour, plus productivity bonuses. In addition, I pay payroll taxes and one of the highest worker compensation rates in the state. Even still, I could likely absorb a minimum wage as high as $11.50 an hour. But a $15-an-hour wage for my employees translates into $18.90 in costs for me — or just under $40,000 a year per full-time employee.
When the $15 minimum wage is fully phased in, my company would be losing in excess of $200,000 a year (and far more if my workforce grows as anticipated). That may be a drop in the bucket for large corporations, but a small business cannot absorb such losses. I could try to charge more to offset that cost, but my customers —the companies that are looking for someone to produce their clothing line — wouldn’t pay it. The result would be layoffs.
Cue the usual cries of "He can take a pay cut" and "Greedy bastard"
The expected consequences of separating pay from the value added from the work:
Leaving for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice
The biggest reason is the minimum wage, which will rise to $15 by 2021 in the county and by 2022 statewide. I write with some hesitancy, because I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay. When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Here's what the math looks like: I pay my employees $10.50 an hour, plus productivity bonuses. In addition, I pay payroll taxes and one of the highest worker compensation rates in the state. Even still, I could likely absorb a minimum wage as high as $11.50 an hour. But a $15-an-hour wage for my employees translates into $18.90 in costs for me — or just under $40,000 a year per full-time employee.
When the $15 minimum wage is fully phased in, my company would be losing in excess of $200,000 a year (and far more if my workforce grows as anticipated). That may be a drop in the bucket for large corporations, but a small business cannot absorb such losses. I could try to charge more to offset that cost, but my customers —the companies that are looking for someone to produce their clothing line — wouldn’t pay it. The result would be layoffs.
Cue the usual cries of "He can take a pay cut" and "Greedy bastard"
Good morning Marty
Big businesses run the smaller ones out, no one can survive in California even with the minimum raise.
Rent for a studio is more than $1800.00 - $5,000 or more a month.
The only people who can afford it are like google, facebook, twitter, netflex upper management employees..
He should be okay. Just tell him to hang in there for a little bit.The expected consequences of separating pay from the value added from the work:
Leaving for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice
The biggest reason is the minimum wage, which will rise to $15 by 2021 in the county and by 2022 statewide. I write with some hesitancy, because I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay. When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Here's what the math looks like: I pay my employees $10.50 an hour, plus productivity bonuses. In addition, I pay payroll taxes and one of the highest worker compensation rates in the state. Even still, I could likely absorb a minimum wage as high as $11.50 an hour. But a $15-an-hour wage for my employees translates into $18.90 in costs for me — or just under $40,000 a year per full-time employee.
When the $15 minimum wage is fully phased in, my company would be losing in excess of $200,000 a year (and far more if my workforce grows as anticipated). That may be a drop in the bucket for large corporations, but a small business cannot absorb such losses. I could try to charge more to offset that cost, but my customers —the companies that are looking for someone to produce their clothing line — wouldn’t pay it. The result would be layoffs.
Cue the usual cries of "He can take a pay cut" and "Greedy bastard"
He should be okay. Just tell him to hang in there for a little bit.The expected consequences of separating pay from the value added from the work:
Leaving for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice
The biggest reason is the minimum wage, which will rise to $15 by 2021 in the county and by 2022 statewide. I write with some hesitancy, because I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay. When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Here's what the math looks like: I pay my employees $10.50 an hour, plus productivity bonuses. In addition, I pay payroll taxes and one of the highest worker compensation rates in the state. Even still, I could likely absorb a minimum wage as high as $11.50 an hour. But a $15-an-hour wage for my employees translates into $18.90 in costs for me — or just under $40,000 a year per full-time employee.
When the $15 minimum wage is fully phased in, my company would be losing in excess of $200,000 a year (and far more if my workforce grows as anticipated). That may be a drop in the bucket for large corporations, but a small business cannot absorb such losses. I could try to charge more to offset that cost, but my customers —the companies that are looking for someone to produce their clothing line — wouldn’t pay it. The result would be layoffs.
Cue the usual cries of "He can take a pay cut" and "Greedy bastard"
The incoming head of the Department of Labor, Andrew Puzder, will be doing everything he can to do away with the minimum wage altogether.
Not to mention that they had already opened a place in Las Vegas last year. This op/ed seems disingenuous.
No idea. He's making this grand announcement saying he's moving long after he had already moved.Not to mention that they had already opened a place in Las Vegas last year. This op/ed seems disingenuous.
Doesn't fit the narrative, eh Ravi?
No idea. He's making this grand announcement saying he's moving long after he had already moved.Not to mention that they had already opened a place in Las Vegas last year. This op/ed seems disingenuous.
Doesn't fit the narrative, eh Ravi?
The expected consequences of separating pay from the value added from the work:
Leaving for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice
The biggest reason is the minimum wage, which will rise to $15 by 2021 in the county and by 2022 statewide. I write with some hesitancy, because I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay. When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Here's what the math looks like: I pay my employees $10.50 an hour, plus productivity bonuses. In addition, I pay payroll taxes and one of the highest worker compensation rates in the state. Even still, I could likely absorb a minimum wage as high as $11.50 an hour. But a $15-an-hour wage for my employees translates into $18.90 in costs for me — or just under $40,000 a year per full-time employee.
When the $15 minimum wage is fully phased in, my company would be losing in excess of $200,000 a year (and far more if my workforce grows as anticipated). That may be a drop in the bucket for large corporations, but a small business cannot absorb such losses. I could try to charge more to offset that cost, but my customers —the companies that are looking for someone to produce their clothing line — wouldn’t pay it. The result would be layoffs.
Cue the usual cries of "He can take a pay cut" and "Greedy bastard"
Yes, his business offices are in San Fernando. His factory is in Las Vegas, NV. You will see shortly why this is relevant.As the founder of a small fashion design house and clothing manufacturer in San Fernando, I’m not a disinterested observer in this change.
Perhaps so regarding the working conditions. Regardless of what customers care about quality, the fact is that quality is a function of a company's quality control process and functional design and build of the product being made. A given set of quality control procedures and design specifications can be implemented among any body of workers.Domestically manufactured clothing is more expensive, but retail and wholesale customers who care about quality and working conditions have historically been willing to pay for it.
I have to take Houman's word for that.If not for the $15 minimum wage, I’d have zero interest in leaving California.
That's irrelevant. He's either willing to pay them and make changes to his business model or he's not.I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay.
Of course, but businesses sometimes have to transform themselves so that what they offer is what is demanded. Positioning themselves to be able to do that is one of the key reasons for growing the business; it provides the revenue streams needed to enable growth and transformation when it's called for. Houman does not have to want to grow his business, but he does have to accept the consequences of choosing not to do so.When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Agreed. The U.S. is a nation that demands mental skills not physical skills. It's only a matter of time before the same will be true in other nations. Houman will, if he intends to remain a U.S. garment manufacturer, replace labor with capital on his production floor to boost his profit margins and bottom line and in time hire more salespeople so he can generate more sales to take advantage of his more efficient production process. Alternatively, he could shift his business model to that of an artisanal producer, although it appears that he is both that as well as a mass producer. The choice is his, but it's clear that the business situation has changed from one in which it's optimally efficient to produce garments using human labor to one in which it is not.the [garment manufacturing] industry is on a downward trend.
Based on his website information, it doesn't appear that he's actually moved from CA. Given that his production facilities are already in Las Vegas, it appears that he may have scaled his business so that he produces something akin to made to measure (read very "expensive") clothing in Los Angeles and high volume "mass market" garments in Las Vegas.Nevada’s minimum wage is only $8.25 right now, so I can keep my current pay structure or possibly increase wages... I have had the opportunity to meet with Las Vegas city officials (including the mayor) and I am confident that we are entering a very business-friendly environment....Still, if not for the $15 minimum wage, I’d have zero interest in leaving California. In some ways, it’s an ideal time to make clothing here. There's a huge demand for American-made apparel, and the industry infrastructure that exists in Los Angeles — from garment makers to sewing machine repairmen — is difficult to find elsewhere.
It's not about what's cool and not cool. It's about what is in high demand. What's cool about it for most workers is that their jobs pay well. That's the same thing that was cool about being a factory worker some 40 years ago. Times change. Change with them or be left behind.Today, it’s cool to be a tech startup in Silicon Valley, but not to be an apparel industry startup in the San Fernando Valley. That needs to change. Not everyone has the inclination or aptitude to write code for Google or Facebook.
The expected consequences of separating pay from the value added from the work:
Leaving for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice
The biggest reason is the minimum wage, which will rise to $15 by 2021 in the county and by 2022 statewide. I write with some hesitancy, because I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay. When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Here's what the math looks like: I pay my employees $10.50 an hour, plus productivity bonuses. In addition, I pay payroll taxes and one of the highest worker compensation rates in the state. Even still, I could likely absorb a minimum wage as high as $11.50 an hour. But a $15-an-hour wage for my employees translates into $18.90 in costs for me — or just under $40,000 a year per full-time employee.
When the $15 minimum wage is fully phased in, my company would be losing in excess of $200,000 a year (and far more if my workforce grows as anticipated). That may be a drop in the bucket for large corporations, but a small business cannot absorb such losses. I could try to charge more to offset that cost, but my customers —the companies that are looking for someone to produce their clothing line — wouldn’t pay it. The result would be layoffs.
Cue the usual cries of "He can take a pay cut" and "Greedy bastard"
Important: The op-ed piece is dated January 2, 2017.
"Take the pay cut" and "greedy bastard" are not what I have to say about Houman's op-ed piece. For folks who want to go down that road, Houman's pricing structure for some of what he offers may be useful.
Here are my thoughts from reading his editorial:
Yes, his business offices are in San Fernando. His factory is in Las Vegas, NV. You will see shortly why this is relevant.As the founder of a small fashion design house and clothing manufacturer in San Fernando, I’m not a disinterested observer in this change.
Perhaps so regarding the working conditions. Regardless of what customers care about quality, the fact is that quality is a function of a company's quality control process and functional design and build of the product being made. A given set of quality control procedures and design specifications can be implemented among any body of workers.Domestically manufactured clothing is more expensive, but retail and wholesale customers who care about quality and working conditions have historically been willing to pay for it.
I have to take Houman's word for that.If not for the $15 minimum wage, I’d have zero interest in leaving California.
That's irrelevant. He's either willing to pay them and make changes to his business model or he's not.I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay.
Of course, but businesses sometimes have to transform themselves so that what they offer is what is demanded. Positioning themselves to be able to do that is one of the key reasons for growing the business; it provides the revenue streams needed to enable growth and transformation when it's called for. Houman does not have to want to grow his business, but he does have to accept the consequences of choosing not to do so.When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Agreed. The U.S. is a nation that demands mental skills not physical skills. It's only a matter of time before the same will be true in other nations. Houman will, if he intends to remain a U.S. garment manufacturer, replace labor with capital on his production floor to boost his profit margins and bottom line and in time hire more salespeople so he can generate more sales to take advantage of his more efficient production process. Alternatively, he could shift his business model to that of an artisanal producer, although it appears that he is both that as well as a mass producer. The choice is his, but it's clear that the business situation has changed from one in which it's optimally efficient to produce garments using human labor to one in which it is not.the [garment manufacturing] industry is on a downward trend.
Houman can feel bad about having to make that change, but how much worse will it be if not only his workers are out of job, but he also loses his livelihood because he refused to adjust with the times?
Based on his website information, it doesn't appear that he's actually moved from CA. Given that his production facilities are already in Las Vegas, it appears that he may have scaled his business so that he produces something akin to made to measure (read very "expensive") clothing in Los Angeles and high volume "mass market" garments in Las Vegas.Nevada’s minimum wage is only $8.25 right now, so I can keep my current pay structure or possibly increase wages... I have had the opportunity to meet with Las Vegas city officials (including the mayor) and I am confident that we are entering a very business-friendly environment....Still, if not for the $15 minimum wage, I’d have zero interest in leaving California. In some ways, it’s an ideal time to make clothing here. There's a huge demand for American-made apparel, and the industry infrastructure that exists in Los Angeles — from garment makers to sewing machine repairmen — is difficult to find elsewhere.
- Fashion Industry Expert | Apparel Design & Manufacturing | ARGYLEHaus
So what does that suggest to me? It suggests that the man has done exactly what I suggested above and is complaining about it. Well, okay, fine. He can complain. Apparently in Shakespeare's day, men didn't protest too much.
It's not about what's cool and not cool. It's about what is in high demand. What's cool about it for most workers is that their jobs pay well. That's the same thing that was cool about being a factory worker some 40 years ago. Times change. Change with them or be left behind.Today, it’s cool to be a tech startup in Silicon Valley, but not to be an apparel industry startup in the San Fernando Valley. That needs to change. Not everyone has the inclination or aptitude to write code for Google or Facebook.
Regardless of what people are apt or inclined to do, the fact of the matter is that they must, if they want a good paying job, do something that is in high demand. I have to believe that lots of people who worked in factories building cars or making clothes or milling steel didn't particularly lust to do those things, but the jobs were there and they paid well, so that's what they did.
The reality is that you can't force there to be demand for a type of work. Business owners can create demand for the goods/services they offer, but the way in which those things are produced and delivered depends on the business case for making them using labor or capital.
The expected consequences of separating pay from the value added from the work:
Leaving for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice
The biggest reason is the minimum wage, which will rise to $15 by 2021 in the county and by 2022 statewide. I write with some hesitancy, because I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay. When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Here's what the math looks like: I pay my employees $10.50 an hour, plus productivity bonuses. In addition, I pay payroll taxes and one of the highest worker compensation rates in the state. Even still, I could likely absorb a minimum wage as high as $11.50 an hour. But a $15-an-hour wage for my employees translates into $18.90 in costs for me — or just under $40,000 a year per full-time employee.
When the $15 minimum wage is fully phased in, my company would be losing in excess of $200,000 a year (and far more if my workforce grows as anticipated). That may be a drop in the bucket for large corporations, but a small business cannot absorb such losses. I could try to charge more to offset that cost, but my customers —the companies that are looking for someone to produce their clothing line — wouldn’t pay it. The result would be layoffs.
Cue the usual cries of "He can take a pay cut" and "Greedy bastard"
Important: The op-ed piece is dated January 2, 2017.
"Take the pay cut" and "greedy bastard" are not what I have to say about Houman's op-ed piece. For folks who want to go down that road, Houman's pricing structure for some of what he offers may be useful.
Here are my thoughts from reading his editorial:
Yes, his business offices are in San Fernando. His factory is in Las Vegas, NV. You will see shortly why this is relevant.As the founder of a small fashion design house and clothing manufacturer in San Fernando, I’m not a disinterested observer in this change.
Perhaps so regarding the working conditions. Regardless of what customers care about quality, the fact is that quality is a function of a company's quality control process and functional design and build of the product being made. A given set of quality control procedures and design specifications can be implemented among any body of workers.Domestically manufactured clothing is more expensive, but retail and wholesale customers who care about quality and working conditions have historically been willing to pay for it.
I have to take Houman's word for that.If not for the $15 minimum wage, I’d have zero interest in leaving California.
That's irrelevant. He's either willing to pay them and make changes to his business model or he's not.I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay.
Of course, but businesses sometimes have to transform themselves so that what they offer is what is demanded. Positioning themselves to be able to do that is one of the key reasons for growing the business; it provides the revenue streams needed to enable growth and transformation when it's called for. Houman does not have to want to grow his business, but he does have to accept the consequences of choosing not to do so.When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Agreed. The U.S. is a nation that demands mental skills not physical skills. It's only a matter of time before the same will be true in other nations. Houman will, if he intends to remain a U.S. garment manufacturer, replace labor with capital on his production floor to boost his profit margins and bottom line and in time hire more salespeople so he can generate more sales to take advantage of his more efficient production process. Alternatively, he could shift his business model to that of an artisanal producer, although it appears that he is both that as well as a mass producer. The choice is his, but it's clear that the business situation has changed from one in which it's optimally efficient to produce garments using human labor to one in which it is not.the [garment manufacturing] industry is on a downward trend.
Houman can feel bad about having to make that change, but how much worse will it be if not only his workers are out of job, but he also loses his livelihood because he refused to adjust with the times?
Based on his website information, it doesn't appear that he's actually moved from CA. Given that his production facilities are already in Las Vegas, it appears that he may have scaled his business so that he produces something akin to made to measure (read very "expensive") clothing in Los Angeles and high volume "mass market" garments in Las Vegas.Nevada’s minimum wage is only $8.25 right now, so I can keep my current pay structure or possibly increase wages... I have had the opportunity to meet with Las Vegas city officials (including the mayor) and I am confident that we are entering a very business-friendly environment....Still, if not for the $15 minimum wage, I’d have zero interest in leaving California. In some ways, it’s an ideal time to make clothing here. There's a huge demand for American-made apparel, and the industry infrastructure that exists in Los Angeles — from garment makers to sewing machine repairmen — is difficult to find elsewhere.
- Fashion Industry Expert | Apparel Design & Manufacturing | ARGYLEHaus
So what does that suggest to me? It suggests that the man has done exactly what I suggested above and is complaining about it. Well, okay, fine. He can complain. Apparently in Shakespeare's day, men didn't protest too much.
It's not about what's cool and not cool. It's about what is in high demand. What's cool about it for most workers is that their jobs pay well. That's the same thing that was cool about being a factory worker some 40 years ago. Times change. Change with them or be left behind.Today, it’s cool to be a tech startup in Silicon Valley, but not to be an apparel industry startup in the San Fernando Valley. That needs to change. Not everyone has the inclination or aptitude to write code for Google or Facebook.
Regardless of what people are apt or inclined to do, the fact of the matter is that they must, if they want a good paying job, do something that is in high demand. I have to believe that lots of people who worked in factories building cars or making clothes or milling steel didn't particularly lust to do those things, but the jobs were there and they paid well, so that's what they did.
The reality is that you can't force there to be demand for a type of work. Business owners can create demand for the goods/services they offer, but the way in which those things are produced and delivered depends on the business case for making them using labor or capital.
Based on the article, I would have to assume he plans on moving his "high end" production work to Vegas as well.
Thanks for the additional information.
The expected consequences of separating pay from the value added from the work:
Leaving for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice
The biggest reason is the minimum wage, which will rise to $15 by 2021 in the county and by 2022 statewide. I write with some hesitancy, because I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay. When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Here's what the math looks like: I pay my employees $10.50 an hour, plus productivity bonuses. In addition, I pay payroll taxes and one of the highest worker compensation rates in the state. Even still, I could likely absorb a minimum wage as high as $11.50 an hour. But a $15-an-hour wage for my employees translates into $18.90 in costs for me — or just under $40,000 a year per full-time employee.
When the $15 minimum wage is fully phased in, my company would be losing in excess of $200,000 a year (and far more if my workforce grows as anticipated). That may be a drop in the bucket for large corporations, but a small business cannot absorb such losses. I could try to charge more to offset that cost, but my customers —the companies that are looking for someone to produce their clothing line — wouldn’t pay it. The result would be layoffs.
Cue the usual cries of "He can take a pay cut" and "Greedy bastard"
Important: The op-ed piece is dated January 2, 2017.
"Take the pay cut" and "greedy bastard" are not what I have to say about Houman's op-ed piece. For folks who want to go down that road, Houman's pricing structure for some of what he offers may be useful.
Here are my thoughts from reading his editorial:
Yes, his business offices are in San Fernando. His factory is in Las Vegas, NV. You will see shortly why this is relevant.As the founder of a small fashion design house and clothing manufacturer in San Fernando, I’m not a disinterested observer in this change.
Perhaps so regarding the working conditions. Regardless of what customers care about quality, the fact is that quality is a function of a company's quality control process and functional design and build of the product being made. A given set of quality control procedures and design specifications can be implemented among any body of workers.Domestically manufactured clothing is more expensive, but retail and wholesale customers who care about quality and working conditions have historically been willing to pay for it.
I have to take Houman's word for that.If not for the $15 minimum wage, I’d have zero interest in leaving California.
That's irrelevant. He's either willing to pay them and make changes to his business model or he's not.I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay.
Of course, but businesses sometimes have to transform themselves so that what they offer is what is demanded. Positioning themselves to be able to do that is one of the key reasons for growing the business; it provides the revenue streams needed to enable growth and transformation when it's called for. Houman does not have to want to grow his business, but he does have to accept the consequences of choosing not to do so.When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Agreed. The U.S. is a nation that demands mental skills not physical skills. It's only a matter of time before the same will be true in other nations. Houman will, if he intends to remain a U.S. garment manufacturer, replace labor with capital on his production floor to boost his profit margins and bottom line and in time hire more salespeople so he can generate more sales to take advantage of his more efficient production process. Alternatively, he could shift his business model to that of an artisanal producer, although it appears that he is both that as well as a mass producer. The choice is his, but it's clear that the business situation has changed from one in which it's optimally efficient to produce garments using human labor to one in which it is not.the [garment manufacturing] industry is on a downward trend.
Houman can feel bad about having to make that change, but how much worse will it be if not only his workers are out of job, but he also loses his livelihood because he refused to adjust with the times?
Based on his website information, it doesn't appear that he's actually moved from CA. Given that his production facilities are already in Las Vegas, it appears that he may have scaled his business so that he produces something akin to made to measure (read very "expensive") clothing in Los Angeles and high volume "mass market" garments in Las Vegas.Nevada’s minimum wage is only $8.25 right now, so I can keep my current pay structure or possibly increase wages... I have had the opportunity to meet with Las Vegas city officials (including the mayor) and I am confident that we are entering a very business-friendly environment....Still, if not for the $15 minimum wage, I’d have zero interest in leaving California. In some ways, it’s an ideal time to make clothing here. There's a huge demand for American-made apparel, and the industry infrastructure that exists in Los Angeles — from garment makers to sewing machine repairmen — is difficult to find elsewhere.
- Fashion Industry Expert | Apparel Design & Manufacturing | ARGYLEHaus
So what does that suggest to me? It suggests that the man has done exactly what I suggested above and is complaining about it. Well, okay, fine. He can complain. Apparently in Shakespeare's day, men didn't protest too much.
It's not about what's cool and not cool. It's about what is in high demand. What's cool about it for most workers is that their jobs pay well. That's the same thing that was cool about being a factory worker some 40 years ago. Times change. Change with them or be left behind.Today, it’s cool to be a tech startup in Silicon Valley, but not to be an apparel industry startup in the San Fernando Valley. That needs to change. Not everyone has the inclination or aptitude to write code for Google or Facebook.
Regardless of what people are apt or inclined to do, the fact of the matter is that they must, if they want a good paying job, do something that is in high demand. I have to believe that lots of people who worked in factories building cars or making clothes or milling steel didn't particularly lust to do those things, but the jobs were there and they paid well, so that's what they did.
The reality is that you can't force there to be demand for a type of work. Business owners can create demand for the goods/services they offer, but the way in which those things are produced and delivered depends on the business case for making them using labor or capital.
Based on the article, I would have to assume he plans on moving his "high end" production work to Vegas as well.
Thanks for the additional information.
I think that's one of the possibilities, but I don't have any reason to conclude that it is or is not what he's doing.
The expected consequences of separating pay from the value added from the work:
Leaving for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice
The biggest reason is the minimum wage, which will rise to $15 by 2021 in the county and by 2022 statewide. I write with some hesitancy, because I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay. When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Here's what the math looks like: I pay my employees $10.50 an hour, plus productivity bonuses. In addition, I pay payroll taxes and one of the highest worker compensation rates in the state. Even still, I could likely absorb a minimum wage as high as $11.50 an hour. But a $15-an-hour wage for my employees translates into $18.90 in costs for me — or just under $40,000 a year per full-time employee.
When the $15 minimum wage is fully phased in, my company would be losing in excess of $200,000 a year (and far more if my workforce grows as anticipated). That may be a drop in the bucket for large corporations, but a small business cannot absorb such losses. I could try to charge more to offset that cost, but my customers —the companies that are looking for someone to produce their clothing line — wouldn’t pay it. The result would be layoffs.
Cue the usual cries of "He can take a pay cut" and "Greedy bastard"
Good morning Marty
Big businesses run the smaller ones out, no one can survive in California even with the minimum raise.
Rent for a studio is more than $1800.00 - $5,000 or more a month.
The only people who can afford it are like google, facebook, twitter, netflex upper management employees..
The expected consequences of separating pay from the value added from the work:
Leaving for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice
The biggest reason is the minimum wage, which will rise to $15 by 2021 in the county and by 2022 statewide. I write with some hesitancy, because I’m in no way an opponent of higher pay. When you have a company with fewer than 50 employees, you get to know them pretty well and have a genuine concern for them as individuals. But that has to be balanced with concern for keeping your clients, who can always take their business to other countries or states.
Here's what the math looks like: I pay my employees $10.50 an hour, plus productivity bonuses. In addition, I pay payroll taxes and one of the highest worker compensation rates in the state. Even still, I could likely absorb a minimum wage as high as $11.50 an hour. But a $15-an-hour wage for my employees translates into $18.90 in costs for me — or just under $40,000 a year per full-time employee.
When the $15 minimum wage is fully phased in, my company would be losing in excess of $200,000 a year (and far more if my workforce grows as anticipated). That may be a drop in the bucket for large corporations, but a small business cannot absorb such losses. I could try to charge more to offset that cost, but my customers —the companies that are looking for someone to produce their clothing line — wouldn’t pay it. The result would be layoffs.
Cue the usual cries of "He can take a pay cut" and "Greedy bastard"
Good morning Marty
Big businesses run the smaller ones out, no one can survive in California even with the minimum raise.
Rent for a studio is more than $1800.00 - $5,000 or more a month.
The only people who can afford it are like google, facebook, twitter, netflex upper management employees..
If its anything like NY the exodus will begin to snowball, first the businesses leave, then the middle class leaves, then the state cranks up the taxes to make up for the shortfall and the whole thing goes down the toilet.
his company websiteNo idea. He's making this grand announcement saying he's moving long after he had already moved.Not to mention that they had already opened a place in Las Vegas last year. This op/ed seems disingenuous.
Doesn't fit the narrative, eh Ravi?
He's still listed as in California. Where did you get his "he already moved" information?
his company websiteNo idea. He's making this grand announcement saying he's moving long after he had already moved.Not to mention that they had already opened a place in Las Vegas last year. This op/ed seems disingenuous.
Doesn't fit the narrative, eh Ravi?
He's still listed as in California. Where did you get his "he already moved" information?
