Companies are advertising jobs that pay less than the legal minimum wage, cheating workers out of hard-earned pay. Job seekers are increasingly demanding $20 per hour or more, driven by inflation and shifting expectations. The job market shows slowing growth in salary transparency, while hiring demand has cooled from pandemic peaks.
Major job boards like Reed and CV-Library host dozens of full-time positions paying below the UK’s £20,820 annual minimum wage. These office jobs target graduates yet offer illegal salaries, revealing a systemic enforcement failure. Workers deserve fair pay, but expecting high wages without skills breeds entitlement.
Searches for $20/hour jobs spiked 35% last year while $15/hour searches plummeted 57%. Workers now expect $72,873 minimum salary for new positions—a massive jump from $68,954 just a year earlier. This demand stems from inflation, but it ignores economic reality: wages only grew 4.2% annually.
Entry-level positions exist to build skills and work ethic. Calling them “plantations” insults real victims of oppression while revealing an entitled mindset. If $20/hour feels insufficient, workers should pursue training—not demand unearned raises. The market rewards skilled trades and in-person service jobs showing actual growth.
Conservatives know government handouts create dependency. True opportunity comes from developing marketable skills, not complaining about “low” wages for unskilled work. The solution isn’t higher mandatory wages—it’s vocational education, apprenticeship programs, and embracing hard work.
While rising prices squeeze families, demanding $25/hour for basic tasks ignores business realities. Companies face slowing demand and higher borrowing costs. Forcing unsustainable wages risks job losses—hurting the very workers activists claim to help.
Success starts with showing up early, taking pride in work, and mastering fundamentals. Those calling entry jobs “plantations” reveal their unwillingness to climb the ladder. History proves that discipline and perseverance—not protests—create lasting prosperity.
We need policies that encourage skill-building, not welfare dependence. Cutting red tape for small businesses and expanding trade schools would create real opportunity. Hardworking Americans know: dignity comes from earned success, not government-mandated handouts.
