Ask HN: Should Fortune 500 companies be ashamed pay below the poverty level?

[daspecster]

Aside from high schoolers and interns, shouldn't top companies be ashamed to employ people below the poverty level?

I realize for a company, cheap labor is preferable but this just perpetuates poverty.

If you took 1 trillion dollars in corporate profits, and spread it over everyone in the U.S. that would add roughly $2500 to everyone's pockets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/business/economy/corporate-profits-soar-as-worker-income-limps.html

I'm not talking about the government adjusting minimum wage. I'm just saying that maybe there should be a social stigma towards large and profitable companies paying employees so little. This is happening in America, at places you shop at everyday.

Just a thought.