I would choose a different analogy.
People are not a commodity. ...
Would you buy the cheapest machinery, then constantly cut back on maintenance to save a buck? To me, that's a sure sign of a failing business.
And if a business owner chooses (or is ignorant) to buy the cheapest machinery and cut back on maintenance, and this negatively affects his business, he/she will go out of business.
Same with hiring practices. If they don't offer enough total compensation (not simply measured by $), they won't attract high quality workers. That may actually work for some businesses, and not for others. I think that choice can also be left up to the business owner, and the people who apply (or chose not to apply) for jobs there.
It used to be employees were considered stakeholders, along with customers and stockholders.
Think about what the word "company" means. It's supposed to mean people working together toward a common goal. The goal is not only to make money, but to somehow better society and its members. True, you need to provide a reasonable return on investment if you want to borrow (sell stock or attract venture capital) to grow your business. But the goal is supposed to be growing the business, not selling stock or making a few investors fabulously wealthy.
And if you aren't paying enough to attract good employees, you probably won't succeed in any of the above. And if you pay higher than your competition for the same quality of employee (or raw materials, machinery, etc), you probably won't succeed in any of the above either.
Once your business reaches a point where you can't do it all yourself, you have to hire employees. Your employees become a critical component. They are one of the factors of production. Treat them right and they will treat your plant, your equipment, your finances right. They will care about your product, your customers, your goals. They will make your business strong.
Treat them wrong and they will leave, and/or you won't attract good employees. You will learn the balancing point or likely fail altogether, and then you aren't creating jobs for anyone.
They will reflect back whatever attitude you take toward them. Treat them with disdain, distrust and disloyalty, and they will treat you the same at every opportunity. They may not actually quit in a down job market, but they will certainly not share the goals of the business, and you won't be getting as much value from them.
I think successful businesses fully realize this, and act accordingly.
And I still don't see you offering to pay more than the stated price for routine purchases (the kind you don't normally negotiate for). Do you throw in an extra 10% on your bill at the grocery store, you know, to help all those people? Don't you share in your vision of the way things should be as a customer?
As a reference point, in my dealings with retail outlets and service providers, I fully expect them to charge me a reasonable price - one that assures they can attract good people and good equipment and maintain it. If they are doing good work for me, I want them to stay in business. I'm not going to try to undercut their price such that they can't survive - that hurts me in the long run, I won't have a quality service available to me.
But it's a moot point - they set their price, I can take it or leave it. If I find someone at a lower price, but find their quality not to be up to my standards, I will not use them in the future. But if I find they are offering good quality at that price, it is up to their competition to learn and improve. If it didn't work that way, we would never advance in efficiency, and just accept the status quo.
Be careful what you ask for.
-ERD50