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Wages restored. Profits start after this (7,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

payback period

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'profits start after this' is the definition.
(period needed for original costs to be made back)

'wages restored' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'wages' could be 'pay' (I've seen this before) and 'pay' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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