Boss raises all salaries to US$50k

ON 13 April, the boss of a financial company in Seattle (西雅圖) in the US (美國) took his employees by surprise by making an announcement. From the moment he finished speaking, no matter how much a person earned in the company, their annual salary will be increased to at least US$50,000 (HK$387,500). One year later, the minimum wage will be US$60,000. The year after, this will be further increased to US$70,000. This amounts to about HK$45,500 per month – even for a clerk! No wonder the employees could not believe their ears at first.

But how could Dan Price, the CEO of Gravity Payments – a company that processes credit card payments – have so much money to give to his employees? He simply gave up most of his own salary! His annual salary was at least US$1 million before the announcement. But now it is the same as the minimum wage! This is a pay cut of at least 93 percent! Generous Mr Price believed that his salary should not be so much higher than most of his employees.