We all hit our ceiling at some point but hard work and a willingness to learn and acquire the skills needed can ensure the ceiling isn't the same as the floor. Even if team lead is the best you can do, the added responsibility and longevity alone means you will be making more money than a new hire. Plus corporations with a huge entry level workforce, like McDonald's and Walmart, have reinvested in internal career path guidance for their low wage employees.

Can everyone be a manager, director, VP and above? Of course not. So the answer is paying them as if they were?