Here is a snapshot of what's wrong with the economy.

originally posted by: nwtrucker
a reply to: toysforadults

Sorry, but your taking one position at one firm and then make a blanket statement about the whole economy.

While there is validity to it, supply and demand will address it in the long run.

Besides, if that job say doubles in salary, guess what your inflation is going to look like....

It is WAY more than one company. Most all companies are shedding the veteran experienced worker for cheap inexperienced just outta school rookies. They work cheaper. Much cheaper. And are expendable any time.

The "supply" of cheap , inexperienced labor is growing exponentially as time goes by. And then you have cheap , inexperienced potential employees in most other countries.

Profit margin and stock value....above customer satisfaction and quality
Thats the name of the game

a reply to: toysforadults

Being full time, the hourly rate is typically lower..

But $13 an hour sounds very low, I was earning that washing dishes when I was 18.

I realise US wages are lower than here in Aus, but our cost of living is higher.

a reply to: starwarsisreal

In California, people are encouraging their kids to get a white collar job and look down on blue collar workers. They see that blue collar work is beneath them. This is one of the reasons why a lot of white collar Californians s**** on white working class people.

Oh trust me I know. Most of those people couldn't run a jobsite either. It techs great planning skills technical knowledge and you have to be able to manage people very well. I help my father run 5-15 people jobs where we do 10,000's of sq footage over the periods of months to years.

Matter of fact these jobs can be so hard to run between dealing with the GC's and general contractors that there is little to no competition at this level. This is because A the cost is insane. 1 million dollars+ just to get a bond, insurance, materials up front, up to a year of employee pay and travel cost and everything.

We are so good at it though that we are known as the guys to call when a job blows up in your face to come rescue the jobsite. We do those for time and materials. Good jobs to keep the crews busy.

originally posted by: Chadwickus
a reply to: toysforadults

Being full time, the hourly rate is typically lower..

But $13 an hour sounds very low, I was earning that washing dishes when I was 18.

I realise US wages are lower than here in Aus, but our cost of living is higher.

I think this is the first time in my life I've ever actually agreed with you on anything. You are my Alexander Hamilton.

This should be very telling that the issue is so bad that we can actually agree on this.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

So then the problem is cost of living, not the $13/hour lead position. Simple fix. Dismantle draconian federal/state regulations, snip the red tape, and reform taxes to a flat rate consumer tax, and you pocket more money while the cost of rent, groceries, and utilities drops.

There are little to no federal regs in third world countries. Want-a move?

I agree with a flat tax, if cost of living goes down so would the $13 an hour.


...

a reply to: seasonal

Well, given that most 3rd world countries are either socialist, communist, or fascist in some way, I would say they skipped the regs and went to full-on tyranny. It doesn't make regulation sound any more appetizing to me.

a reply to: toysforadults

At the beginning of 2017, I was between projects and was working in a distribution center. My particular department charged a fee to people in various nations to bypass FFA and group ship their items via commercial passenger jets.

I was in charge of looking through each and every package. We looked for things that were combustible or illegal (I got to pocket a whole lot of perfume samples and bubble gum). We also kept explosives and firearms from boarding passenger jets. I actually found a gun once. Another time, I found a tin full of tannerite. But normally, I'd just find explosive materials, knives, porn, etc.

You'd think a small team who replaces the function of the FFA to keep passenger jets in the air would get a decent wage, right? Nope. Minimum wage and no benefits.

Next time you are flying, look down and realize that somebody getting paid minimum wage might have been responsible for making sure there aren't any explosives under your feet.

i wouldn't say it's what is wrong with the economy. but instead it is what is wrong with the job market. this is after all a position of authority.

now what should be done about it. it seems that no person is willing to do this job. is that because the job is beneath them? such as many people are using to justify illegal immigrants. after all if no one is taking the job the reason must be that people feel the job is too far beneath them. it couldn't have to do with the fact the pay is not worth the work involved. i also have to wonder how many people working at jobs like McDonalds, who deserve their bad pay, would jump at this job, yet are not qualified for the position. seriously this pay is about what an unskilled person working at McDonalds should be paid, not someone in a position of authority with the cost of living in many areas. heck this is not even minimum wage in some places now. and we have also heard the excuse about low pay at places like McDonalds, that if it were not enough no one would work there. so if they can not fill this position, why are they not raising the pay rate until someone takes the job? in fact the only people i know who would be jumping for the chance to take this job, at the offered pay, are those in a poor country like the Philippines (and places like Mexico, and South America and Africa), who see that pay number and not realizing the cost of living difference between the US and the Philippines, where minimum wage is not even $10/DAY, think that that is an awesome pay rate. and that they will be "rich" doing that job, and that such a high paying job would allow them to send tons of money back home to help their families. not realizing that they will barely be earning enough to live on at that, yet will be fully expected by everyone back home, to be sending them tons of money back. and in fact that is exactly what happens. these people send tons of money home, even though they can not really afford to, and thus need to work 2 or 3 jobs to do so. not because they really want to, or really like working that much. but because of honor, and trying to support their families. and the expectation of those back home, that they are rich, and that if they do not do so have abandoned their families, and lost their honor. and i am not joking about that. even those that get married to people in the US or Canada are expected to send home tons of money. i have a friend who is a school teacher who got married to a Filipino. and it has driven them absolutely buggy that their spouse's family back home things that he is extremely rich being a teacher in North America, and expected them to send money and gifts to them accordingly. even though most of us in North America fully understand that a teacher does not earn near enough money in North America. in fact this friend found they had to move to Canada thanks to Obamacare, when their measly salary was no longer enough to cover their living expenses and needed medical insurance. and so even without a steady job, because of the medical coverage in Canada, they can scrape by, where in the US, they were going broke. yet family in the Philippines, still think that he is rich because of what he makes.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

Well, given that most 3rd world countries are either socialist, communist, or fascist in some way, I would say they skipped the regs and went to full-on tyranny. It doesn't make regulation sound any more appetizing to me.

3rd world countries is where a HUGE number of US corps go to have their products made.

Do you find it amazing that capitalism and "full-on tyranny" get along so well?

a reply to: generik

now what should be done about it. it seems that no person is willing to do this job. is that because the job is beneath them? such as many people are using to justify illegal immigrants. after all if no one is taking the job the reason must be that people feel the job is too far beneath them. it couldn't have to do with the fact the pay is not worth the work involved. i also have to wonder how many people working at jobs like McDonalds, who deserve their bad pay, would jump at this job, yet are not qualified for the position. seriously this pay is about what an unskilled person working at McDonalds should be paid, not someone in a position of authority with the cost of living in many areas. heck this is not even minimum wage in some places now. and we have also heard the excuse about low pay at places like McDonalds, that if it were not enough no one would work there. so if they can not fill this position, why are they not raising the pay rate until someone takes the job? in fact the only people i know who would be jumping for the chance to take this job, at the offered pay, are those in a poor country like the Philippines (and places like Mexico, and South America and Africa), who see that pay number and not realizing the cost of living difference between the US and the Philippines, where minimum wage is not even $10/DAY, think that that is an awesome pay rate. and that they will be "rich" doing that job, and that such a high paying job would allow them to send tons of money back home to help their families. not realizing that they will barely be earning enough to live on at that, yet will be fully expected by everyone back home, to be sending them tons of money back. and in fact that is exactly what happens. these people send tons of money home, even though they can not really afford to, and thus need to work 2 or 3 jobs to do so. not because they really want to, or really like working that much. but because of honor, and trying to support their families. and the expectation of those back home, that they are rich, and that if they do not do so have abandoned their families, and lost their honor. and i am not joking about that. even those that get married to people in the US or Canada are expected to send home tons of money. i have a friend who is a school teacher who got married to a Filipino. and it has driven them absolutely buggy that their spouse's family back home things that he is extremely rich being a teacher in North America, and expected them to send money and gifts to them accordingly. even though most of us in North America fully understand that a teacher does not earn near enough money in North America. in fact this friend found they had to move to Canada thanks to Obamacare, when their measly salary was no longer enough to cover their living expenses and needed medical insurance. and so even without a steady job, because of the medical coverage in Canada, they can scrape by, where in the US, they were going broke. yet family in the Philippines, still think that he is rich because of what he makes.

Paragraphs----paragraphs.
(I tend to agree with the subject matter)

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a reply to: Abysha

Everyone is going to tell you it's just a low skill job and doesn't deserve more. L2skillnoob

a reply to: Gothmog

That's true. Yet, your 'most all companies' are shedding veteran work force to hire cheap young labor is flat out an exaggeration.

The list of companies that increasing wages, benefits, paid family and sick leave is going up fast, especially since the tax cut.

I agree on customer service. But there are a whole bunch of smaller companies I am connected to that can't find decent help.

The writing is on the wall, take care of those employees you have or you will lose them. So both views are true, depending on the industry and company.

By the way there's always been cheap, inexperienced labor available. I've seen 'help wanted' signs for most of my 67 years.

If Trump's efforts work, we will stop bitching about low wages and start bitching about high costs.....

a reply to: nwtrucker

Numbers and sources please.

The list of companies that increasing wages, benefits, paid family and sick leave is going up fast, especially since the tax cut.

a reply to: seasonal

if cost of living goes down so would the $13 an hour. 

Not necessarily. Generally speaking, it's not until growing businesses become top heavy with internal beaurocracy that they become so arrogant to treat their employees as expendable assets. That's usually when the corporation implodes under its own money drunken weight, but regulation bottle necks the competition, allowing jerks companies like Walmart to out live their natural expiration. That puts a burden on the middle class, and ultimately will play a significant role in the economic apocalypse.

a reply to: nwtrucker

The list of companies that increasing wages, benefits, paid family and sick leave is going up fast, especially since the tax cut.

You buy the right wing propaganda to much. The numbers tell a different story. Oh I'm not a Democrat either.

Payscale.com

The economy has picked up in the commercial market this year however though but not residential. Residential construction is still in the dumps in my state but the commercial spending has increased dramatically.

PAYSCALE INDEX Q4 2017: REAL WAGES STILL BELOW PRE-RECESSION LEVELS,TRANSPORTATION AND WAREHOUSING UP AND MORE

Add to that the fact that cost of living and inflation have decimated the majority of middle income earners and it tells a different story.

originally posted by: toysforadults
a reply to: Abysha
L2skillnoob

Lol.

I never realized how well leetspeak epitomizes toxic capitalism before now.

a reply to: toysforadults

Like 2 weeks and I would want to quit and probably would. My point though here is that these positions are lead positions (not technically supervisors but it's like a junior supervisory position).

The former leads there probably thought the same way. Lead position does all the work of carrying out orders and keeping workers in line so the Sup doesn't have to (work as hard).

If two of the positions are open its already a volatile environment, 13 dollars isn't enough to live on.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: nwtrucker

Numbers and sources please.

The list of companies that increasing wages, benefits, paid family and sick leave is going up fast, especially since the tax cut.

You must be from 2012 because I rarely see people verifying there perspective anymore everyone just wants sexy sounding rhetoric with no substance nowadays.

originally posted by: toysforadults

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: nwtrucker

Numbers and sources please.

The list of companies that increasing wages, benefits, paid family and sick leave is going up fast, especially since the tax cut.

You must be from 2012 because I rarely see people verifying there perspective anymore everyone just wants sexy sounding rhetoric with no substance nowadays.

Ok so a baseless feeling. Got it.

a reply to: Abysha

I'm an old school gamer.

l337 is all I know.

Damn MUD games.