Letter - Job incentives questioned

Kay P.
Eagle Bend, MN     02/09/2010 8:33 AM

$7.2 billion or 32.4 percent of Minnesota taxes are imposed on businesses. Of that amount, $2.9 billion or almost 41 percent is exported. Roughly a third of what is collected comes off of business. This does not take into acct what individuals who own/operate these businesses, get income taxed too. Plus there is unemployment insurance to purchase for EACH employee, every month, and if Healthcare insurance becomes mandatory, Monthly premiums will need to be met. It's not a business friendly economic climate, there is NO reliable forecast on the future and a $5000 per employee "credit" is a drop in the bucket compared to all the other expenses and potential expenses of keeping that employee indefinately, not to mention a payroll that needs to be met, for that employee. I do wonder...if a boss hires someone, and they turn out to be a lost cause for the job, is there also a stipulation that makes it impossible to terminate an employee that refuses to to their job as described at the time they accepted the position? If there isn't some stipulation, I can see people hired, credit claimed, then fired, pronto by a boss just cashing in, BUT, on the other hand, I can see bosses stuck with employees that they can't let go, or will have a growing unemployment expense proportionate to the number of employees they have let go. Why are bosses even more likely to terminate an employee and then try to deny unemployement claims? BECAUSE they don't want to fund a loser... Get to know management of business that employs more than family or friends, I think most people would be surprised to find out how much it costs and how much legal tape there is to HIRE a person, and then be on the hook for matching payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, etc. There is MUCH more than just meeting the hourly wage. I wouldn't be looking at this credit with $$ in my eyes. There are way too many other variables to consider. in which the business will be on the hook to provide real money to cover. Sure, I will admit, dang that sure sounds great to the public...but only foolish people will be led to believe that this is a shot in the arm for business. It's will do little to create long term sustainable employment for good workers looking for decent pay and benefits. It might sucker some into the short term benefit, just long enough to bring that high unemployment rate down, maybe in time for the next major election. However, if demand does not call for the production or services, why would an employer retain employees in the first place? Hire a worker to pay them to come to work and do nothing? I don't think so. The demand isn't there yet...it's stalled and in some areas backed up to levels not seen in years. Classic example -- several food or beverage businesses seeing a drastic decline in their regular customer base, enough to close their doors for good just in the last few months. -- Manufacturing workers having their hours reduced or laid off permanently.-- No new contracts for production. -- Hiring freezes in several major employers all over the country. There are a lot of people standing with their hands in their pockets and they aren't taking out their wallet as often or their pocket is already empty. I can't be the only person around that has cut back on my own casual spending. Certain industries are feeling the deep freeze and they aren't all that hopeful for a quick thaw.

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b.a. c.
Osakis, MN     02/06/2010 3:11 PM

And you keep seeing that productivity is up while employment is either down or stagnant. So, it looks like those dollars are even more hard-earned now than before.

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Like-minded extreme right wing lemming. I.
Bushland, TX     02/05/2010 3:52 PM

This article is absolutely correct. The proposed hiring incentive makes no sense because it doesn't address the reason employees are being laid off in the first place. Our Community Organizer in Chief, President Obama, never ran a business. Therefore, he doesn't understand that our poor economy and current political environment (which threatens to add more cost onto businesses) is what's causing zero growth and layoffs. Until those issues are resolved, most businesses aren't going to consider expansion, or hiring additional employees. This tax incentive will only cost taxpayers more of their hard earned dollars.

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