(wsj.com)
Small businesses, already on a tight budget, are looking for new ways to cut costs as they brace for minimum wage increases in several U.S. states next month.
Strategies range from cutting back workers' hours, to replacing waiters with an automated ordering system.
Eight states including Arizona, Florida and Washington will require employers to pay non-salaried workers a minimum of 32 cents more per hour, on average, starting Jan. 1. While occasional increases to the minimum wage—which currently stands at $7.25 an hour nationally, but varies by state—are nothing new, the planned 2012 adjustments will hit many businesses at a time when profits are razor thin.
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8 states to raise minimum wage in 2012
Non-salaried workers will recieve a minimum of 32 cents more an hour.