Good morning adjudicators, ladies and gentlemen,
Today’s motion is “Salary is not the most important element to consider when choosing a job”. As the affirmative side, we strongly agree that there are far more essential components rather than salary when seeking a job. I am going to evince why salary is not as salient as the others.
To many, salary is vital and they have a practical yet stereotypical thinking - salary buys them happiness. Due to their financial burden, the amount of money they get has become the major concern, especially to those breadwinners. However, this is a pathetic misconception. Emphasizing solely on the salary, we wouldn’t be gratified when we work. Written more than 250 years ago, in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith famously warned that material gains often make us less happy, not more. Beyond that, higher pay doesn’t influence happiness much, and other factors take over. As such, working for money becomes fatuous and vacuous in your life and you are just being a slave of the salary.
Have you ever pondered on this question “Would you work if you were not paid?” Volunteers will; salary is not taken into their account. Mr Chan Cheuk Ming, the proprietor of a restaurant, has been demonstrating to work when not paid. He provides free lunch boxes from his shop to the needy, which means he’s facing shrinking profits or even a deficit. Having income or not is not in his calculation. Take another example, those real heroes working with “Doctors Without Borders” are only given barely adequate subventions and no excessive salary. Still, they work hard to save lives. These, have proved that, the salary is not the purpose of work.
The opposition may again claim that, salary gives motivation and passion to work. This, however, is not appreciated. Salary doesn’t do anything, but your vision and ambition do. Imagine you are only working and waiting for the payday, how monotonous and tedious will your life be? On the contrary, they, finding its prospect in your working field and opportunities for enhancements, with an enterprising heart and your own interest, can easily choose a job which motivates you. A survey done by The London school of economics and political science had found that, across all income levels, the top predictor of workplace satisfaction is not pay: It is the opportunities of career. On top of that, only through the above mentioned conditions can job seekers find their ideal jobs. As a result, salary is certainly not the most vital element.
On some situations, high salaries will not attract people and some jobs with relatively high salaries in its field find it hard to employ enough people. Take the low-skilled labour as an example. Since the implementation of the minimum wage, which is $34.5 per hour, grass-roots wages have increasingly risen. Some cleaners are even more advanced than some of the administrative staff in recent years. Still, there is a shortage in this field especially in cleaning, catering and security industries, leading to the fact that employers are arduous to hire enough workers even though it is well-paid, with the median monthly income of $16,000. Another example will be nursing, nurses’ starting salaries are much higher than in other industries due to the current shortage of qualified staff. Their jobs are acknowledged as one of the most toilsome jobs with much pressure and workload. Many refuse to take up as a registered nurse despite the seemingly attractive pay. From the above mentioned situations, we can say, with the same qualifications, some jobs paying well still won’t be welcomed by job seekers. Salary is therefore not the principal concern.
Ladies and gentlemen, the justification that I put forward above shall be able to uphold today’s motion. Salary is salient but not the most crucial component and there is a spectrum of other factors. I hereby call for your support in the motion “Salary is not the most important element to consider when choosing a job”. Thank you.