The differing perspectives on Dan Price of Gravity Payments decision to raise minimum wage to $70,000 in his company

Dan Price, founder and CEO of Gravity Payments made headlines when he made a life altering decision in order to help out his employees. He cut his $1 million dollar salary in order to raise the salary of those who made less than $70,000 in his payment processing company. Three articles posted by three different websites discuss very different perspectives on Price’s decision. The Huffington Post wrote an article on why he decided to help out his employees and the his plans by pulling this move, Buzzfeed gives straightforward information on Price’s pay cut, while a piece on Recruiting Blogs brings into question Prices decisions.

The Huffington Post

An article posted on the Huffington Post titled CEO Slashes $1 Million Salary To Give Lowest Paid Workers A Rase discusses Dan Prices’ decision to cut his $1 million dollar salary. It stated that it was growing income inequality and a 2010 Princeton University study that finally pushed the CEO to make this decision that not only changed his life, but the lives of his employees. The Princeton study stated that $75,000 is and ideal salary at which people can achieve happiness. Price’s $70,000 minimum salary is just below the study’s figure, which directly affected 70 of his 120 Gravity Payments employees. 

While many thought of Price’s decision to be charitable, the CEO saw this pay raise as more of an investment for the future. It is an incentive to build his company higher, also he believes that since his employees will have less money troubles than before, that they will be able to put in more time and focus and do better during the work day.

Buzzfeed

Buzzfeed posted an article titled This CEO Is Giving His Employees’ A $70,000 Minimum Wage giving the topic a straightforward run through of the facts and is perfect for someone who is on the go and looking to read an article which will at most take 1 minute to read. This article gives a reader the when, where, and why. When this happened, where it happened, and why Dan Price decided to do it, no more and no less. 

Recruiting Blog

Maren Hogan and Kerry Pivovar posted on a piece about the Gravity Payments CEO’s decision, titled What Gravity Payments’ $70,000 Salary Increase Really Means on Recruiting Blogs. They discuss the disadvantages of a risky business move such as the one Dan Price just pulled. The writers go in depth of how true the ‘happiness’ salary level really is, then they continued to bring into question Price’s motives and how his company could take a large hit in years to come. Hogan and Pivovar moved on to discuss how this radical decision could leave some employees dissatisfied, believing that some do not deserve that large of a salary for their amount work, while others deserve a higher salary. They move on to now that the employees have had this one time pay bump will they truly work harder for the money or will they relax since they know a fat paycheck is on the way to the bank. Maren and Kerry finished off the in depth article with raising many questions on how the future for this company will turn out when Price starts to earn a normal CEO’s salary again, will he continue this trend of raising his employees pay to close the pay gap, or will it be a one time thing.

Of all the articles on Dan Price, the Huffington Post did the best job at laying down the facts and covering the story. Where the blog and Buzzfeed failed at, the Huffington Post succeeded, it wasn't too short or too long, and gave the readers straightforward information and the facts behind the Gravity Payments CEO’s decision.

While Maren and Kerrys blog was wonderful, I thought it it did the worst job at covering the story due to the length and unencessity of some of the points. It was in very in depth, brought up many questions and very carefully written, but it was unfortunately too long. It felt as though the article kept going and while reading I found myself easily distracted. 

In order to provide a more complete story Maren and Kerry should have

• shortened each of the topics they covered
• eliminated the unnecessary sections 
• lay down the facts instead of assuming everyone has heard of Dan Price and Gravity Payments

While all three articles had very different view points on Dan Price’s decision, I thought they each had something different to offer. The Huffington Post did a great job at laying out the facts in an article that wasn't too lengthy. Buzzfeed was successful at giving the information for the type of person who wants to know what happened and fast. Maren Hogan and Kerry Pivovar wrote a wonderful and in depth article with many viewpoints on the various potential problems Price’s decision could cause.