Five years ago on Labor Day, I shared that $20/hour is the minimum we would pay an independent contractor or volunteer for a specific task. At the time, I thought that was a fair starting point, with highly specialized contractors earning considerably more.
My two full-time salaried coworkers/co-owners at Stonemaier Games (and my part-time coworkers, Alan, Morten, and Susannah), receive an annual cost-of-living raise. This type of increase is built into the core, founding principles of Stonemaier Games. Something that cost $1 a few years ago may now cost $1.10, so if you don’t give cost-of-living raises, you’re essentially decreasing someone’s wages/salary.
Last year’s cost-of-living salary/wage increase, as recommended by the Social Security Administration, was 5.9%. That’s the highest increase in over a decade. Yet inflation rates for 2022 are even higher: Currently they’re around 9%.
While of course this will impact salaries, I think it’s also time to update the $20/hour minimum we set for independent contractors and paid volunteers. From now on, that number will be $25/hour.
As for inflation itself, we’re trying our best not to contribute to inflation. The root of inflation is the prices companies charge customers for goods and services. If I price a game at $50 today for something that I previously priced at $45, I’m contributing to inflation.
In the game industry, I’d estimate that most price increases are the result of cost increases (manufacturing and freight shipping), which have been fairly significant over the last few years. But just because landed costs increase by 20% doesn’t mean that we need to increase the price by 20%. Hopefully there’s a sustainable middle ground.
Just some things to think about on Labor Day! Here are some other related articles I’ve written on these topics:
- A Short Note About Wages on Labor Day
- Labor Day: Fair Wages, Volunteer Compensation, and a Job Application Update
- Perks and Principles for My Coworkers at Stonemaier Games
- Why I Prioritize Paying Freelancers
- Hiring in a World of Volunteers
Addendum: Here’s a good question asked on Facebook, followed by my answer (there’s truly no shame in the person’s question–I think it’s something a lot of people may wonder, and I appreciate that someone asked it).
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15 Comments on “Wages, Inflation, and Labor Day”
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Thanks for this good example of caring for people over profits, Jamey — though I suppose that this might impair your ability to join the ranks of the billionaires ;)
Are you aware of any other game publishers who have announced similar wage increases in the past year or two?
Thanks Chris! I’m not aware of other publishers doing this, but I bet others do even better than us and just don’t talk about it. :)
Jamey,
First let me say, your actions on transparency and basic human decency are to be commended, and in a world where people trumpet what great “Christians” they are; here is Christs commands in action! Scott O’brien may be correct in the world of Economics, however Economics real perpose in this world is to justify a system which funnels all the benifit of human endevor to less than one percent of humanity! Arguably Economic is the “AntiChrist” as it leads one away from Christ and his teachings. Thank you for leading the way, and recognizing and acting upon the “the leader is a servant of the people” mantra. Now please excuse me while I go and throw dark looks a the leaders and titans of industry who wage war on all who are not of their 1%. Thank you for showing me that moral and Ethical leadership is still possable; and for leaving a road map for others to follow! May you recive the greatest gift a leader can recive; the flourishing of those who follow.
Thanks Jason! We’re always looking to treat people with respect, kindness, and inclusion, whether it’s to bring joy to tabletops worldwide or to serve those who bring our products to life in the first place. For me, this isn’t motivated by religion, nor do I seek to shame anyone who takes a different approach–it’s about trying to do the right thing for people. If people like what we’re doing, I appreciate their support so we can keep doing it.
I believe you have an incorrect root assertion, which basing conclusions on that root falsity may be even further problematic. Inflation is not caused by companies raising prices, due to costs going up. That is an effect of inflation but not the cause. Inflation is caused by overdemand, too much discretionary spending money available to the average person. Contrary to the board game industry, where the goal is to print X units and sell X units, the goal of most industries is to have product availability, meaning X sitting on the shelf ready to sell to anyone who comes into a store. Selling too many units too fast leaves empty store shelves, and a result, unit prices are increased until equilibruim, and units begin to stay on the shelf again. The real problem is that in actual economics, by making everyone richer, we are actually making everyone poorer.
Scott: I agree that’s part of the equation, but at the heart of both reasons stated here are decisions made by companies. Inflation isn’t something that just happens via circumstances out of our control–manufacturers, publishers, and vendors have a huge impact on inflation and can make customer-facing decisions to curb it.
I am very impressed, as an owner of Two Stonemaier games, I feel gratified knowing that you take such a positive stance in regards to your people.
That’s a generous base increase, nice one Jamey.
What you are doing is a very commendable thing. It is fantastic to learn that some bosses/owners also thing about their employees.
It’s awesome to hear that you are paying your employees a thriving wage, I have a great respect for you and Stonemaier for more reasons than one!
Jamey,
Thank you so much for sharing! I’ve been struggling myself over the past year, trying to find some sense of the cost-of-living. It makes it hard where I live since they don’t do increases on salary based on economy, rather they look at demographics. This makes it especially hard when all around myself, prices for even just renting goes up hundreds of dollars. I sometimes have to think that maybe moving to a different state where the cost-of-living and salary ratio are better. (I’ve been doing some research and it seems like it might be one of my only 2 options unfortunately)