When calculating the cost of a product, labor expense is taken as 10 percent. There are areas where labor is 3 percent, and there are areas where it is 30 percent. However, when averaging, the calculation is made based on 10 percent labor cost.
So, if we have a product worth 100 liras, only 10 liras of it is the wage paid to the worker. Now, there will definitely be people who increase the price of a 100 lira product to 130 lira just because the minimum wage has been increased by 30 percent. However, only 10 lira of that product is workers’ wages. If we add 30 percent to that 10 lira, it becomes 13 lira. So the price of the product may increase to 103 lira.
In the news in Türkiye newspaper, attention was drawn to opportunists after the announcement of the minimum wage.
OPPORTUNISTS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED
On the other hand, the Ministries of Commerce and Agriculture and Forestry saw the increase in the minimum wage to 22 thousand 104 lira net for 2025 as an “opportunity” and warned businesses that increased the prices of products and services at exorbitant levels.
In the statement of the Ministry of Commerce, “In this context, we would like to warn once again, especially the sellers of goods and services who will try to increase the prices at the same minimum wage increase rate as if the entire cost was labor. First, the minimum wage will be paid at the end of January 2025. Secondly, labor costs constitute only a portion of the total cost. For this reason, we warn those who want to try to turn the increase rate of the minimum wage into the increase rate of prices with great greed.”
