You can just imagine the flurry of emails and texts that whizzed around between bank executives and board members starting last Friday afternoon:
BOH $1,000 bonus and min wage going from $12 to $15!
— OMG. We need to match.
FHB now saying $1,500 bonus for all employees!
— Copycats! Peer pressure! Ugh. We need to match.
— Maybe not match. Something similar tho. Turkey certificate? Coffee gift card?
Am Savings giving $1,000 bonus and minimum wage up to $15.25!
— OMG! We need to match.
Central Pacific Bank jumped in on the party on Christmas Day, announcing $1,000 bonuses for employees excluding executives and a new entry-level pay of $15.25 an hour. Meanwhile, all across Hawaii, there’s anticipation for which other companies might follow suit and grumblings about why some might not.
The bonus is like the Christmas turkey Scrooge buys Bob Cratchit. Nice for the holidays but gone after two dinners and a pot of jook. Happily, Cratchit got a raise as well, a gift that keeps on giving every hour that is worked all year long.
The banks credit the Republican tax overhaul and Donald Trump’s gift to corporations of a huge tax cut as the reason for this trickle-down windfall. But there’s also an element of peer pressure. If everyone else is doing it and getting accolades for the decision, a gaping, echoing hole of questions opens up around the front doors of other companies.
Hawaii is currently experiencing the lowest jobless rate in the country, now at 2 percent. That means workers hold a measure of power over employers and the best employees can look around to see what else is out there, and they can move up to better. Workers are not stuck holding on to jobs that suck, pay that’s low and employers who don’t value their talents and contributions. Banks especially compete for excellent employees.
A facet of the new Google economy, millennial mindset and artisanal aesthetic is the concept that work is supposed to be a place where people are valued for their original ideas, unique talents and potential for innovation rather than a dronelike obedience. The internet has disrupted many industries, but it has also brought a new way of thinking about work, which is actually connected to the old way of thinking about work: meaningful apprenticeship, mastery of craft, value of workmanship, self-determination.
The Harvey Weinstein era has also had an effect on work life, and serious conversations are happening everywhere about how workplaces should be safe and fair for all. And then there’s this, the first signs of trickle-down, unintended though it may have been. This brings hope for better days in offices and warehouses, teachers’ lounges and meeting rooms. Peer pressure might not come in the form of, “The other guys are doing this. It’ll look bad if we don’t.” It could be more like, “Half the staff is leaving to take jobs with the competition. Dang it, we’d better do something.” And that’s totally fine.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
