system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
No because wages don't account for ALL of a company's expenditures, only part of it.

I've used this example many times but it is a few years old, but you can get an idea for a specific company if they're publicly traded and you can find data for their finances.

McDonald's (corporate) for example showed that wages and earnings only accounted for something like 20% of their expenditures in 2018. So if they were to increase wages 10%, they'd only need to increase earnings by 2% (or less) to make up that difference.

If the company is profitable then the amount they'd need to charge more would be at or less than the percentage they're losing with the wage increase.
gpt
Good post.  It’s also tricky because all these businesses have competitors.  If an otherwise identical competing company operates with 2% lower operating costs they are going to run you out of business.

I believe that’s one of the arguments for a minimum wage.  Without it, the theory goes, businesses will compete to save costs and squeeze the worker.