I have noticed that many companies I have worked for have not paid people what they are worth. This leads to problems for all involved.
First, low-paid employees will leave when they get a better offer. Ah you say, this is the justification for their disloyalty. If we know they are going to leave, then, of course, we should pay them less. No. People will not leave jobs in which they are paid in a way that they can survive. It is too uncertain and stressful for most people to change jobs.
Second when companies don’t pay their employees enough to survive morale suffers and so does productivity. Certain companies actually tell their workers how to apply for public benefits like food/medical care. Those companies are knowingly underpaying people and not businesses that I support. Everyone who works with those companies will leave when they get a better opportunity and never support those businesses again. Businesses create a hostile environment for themselves and then wonder when they go out of business.
The health of those workers suffers and insurance becomes more expensive. Or companies start to drop people who they suspect will cost them insurance money. Drug tests can also identify pregnancies and so just being pregnant might be a reason for a company to not hire you. We know already that companies ask women if they are planning to have children so I would expect this behavior to continue.
Finally, when people don’t get paid enough to fund further education then both they and the company suffer. Companies get exactly the level of productivity that they pay for. When you don’t invest in your employees, why should the employees invest in themselves? If they want to further themselves there are plenty of companies that will invest in them. Or conversely, how can they pay to invest in themselves when they are barely making enough to pay the rent? I have struggled in my past to pay for education and I sacrificed to pay for it, and that helped every company that I worked for. Rarely has a company paid for my education even when they asked me for classes that would have directly helped them. Instead, they hire a new person who is more expensive and then leave when they get a better offer because they have better skills. Isn’t loyalty two ways?