Judy Briggs, owner of a 1-800–GOT-JUNK franchise in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, raised wages 18 percent in March after she started losing employees to nationally known furniture and warehouse companies.
But those larger firms still offered starting hourly pay of $15 to $20 an hour, compared with her $12 to $14, leading to further defections from her franchise, which hauls away items such as old furniture, appliances and tires. She’s debating whether to boost pay to $15 an hour, but that could mean cutting back other benefits.
