How would one actually calculate the full “fruit of labor” in work that includes several people doing different tasks?
How to calculate between people doing the same task producing physical items seems easy. Add in customer service, sales, and development, and it seems easier to focus on what other groups pay for those skills, which is not what I want.
It also seems looking at the difference between having the role, and not. However some skills are mandatory, just less involved.
Feel free to simplify, but different tasks is a must.
and it seems easier to focus on what other groups pay for those skills, which is not what I want.
The problem is that the skills have different worth and that said worth is different given the skill set. This isn’t what you want to hear, but cost to replace is a good metric for this. This includes the quality of the work.
TL;DR Impossible, you can’t just split all the money among the employees.
If you want to be fair in this you need to include all the expenses any business has and also reduce that by some multiple, no business can spend all it makes and survive for long.
Businesses have the same risks and problems as people do, with ironically, additional problems and risks brought on by the people themselves, such as embezzlement and theft.
You have to include or calculate for holding back profits to stay in the bank to get the company through a recession, natural disasters, or unforeseen circumstances on the downside, or to buy new production facilities and equipment on the upside.
There is almost always debt service on real estate or existing equipment.
There are lots of costs any business has and must provide for such as defending against frivolous lawsuits, patent trolls, and grifters, as well as the usual ones such as advertising, complying with government regulations, taxes.
For retail and manufacturing, supplies and enough inventory takes up a lot of capital and also financing to make it work.
Sure, and then how do we split the amount of profit available for salaries equitably?
I’ve tried to say that employee wages aren’t anything close to what one sees on their paycheck. And been buried for it.
Unemployment insurance, worker’s comp insurance, taxes, benefits (even if minor), all adds up to roughly double one’s hourly rate.
Lemmy: “Fuck you! BILLIONAIRES!”
Fine smart ass. Go start and run a business. Be my guest.
Personally, I’d start at the minimum required to live in the immediate area around the job site and go up from there based on merit/difficulty of the task/importance of task. But then again, I’m not a business person.
Several people doing different tasks
Are you able to expand on the scale and nuance here?
- Is it in a chain where one persons tasks gives the input to the next persons task? factory line style?
- How large are the tasks and then roles to fulfill them? IE at a subway (bake bread initially, prepare sandwich on demand) vs a software project (months long work, tasks could potentially months long and need many subtasks)
Some example questions for what I mean
I am looking for a general answer, so no.
I was hoping to tap knowledge I don’t have, but though common. I mean many of us work or own businesses.
Add in customer service, sales, and development, and it seems easier to focus on what other groups pay for those skills, which is not what I want.
Why not? Why not value the work based on what others are willing to pay for it?
You can choose whatever process you like. When a market exists then you’re still competing with the market. If a market doesn’t exist then there’s no competition. Either way it doesn’t matter what process you choose.
The market rate will be one of many floors.
