Economy

I don't think many <$12/hour jobs make you more employable for $20+/hour jobs. In fact, they are probably detrimental, overall, to getting a lot of $20+/hour jobs. 

 
Dr. Strangelove said:
Good points. Other things to consider: why would anybody work for $12 bucks an hour? With housing prices surging, the price of a house is rising faster than they can possibly make each month. 

How many years would it take a superstore employee/small business employee making ~$12 an hour to save for a down payment on a house? I don't think it's possible with their current expenses, but even if they tried the down payment number had increased more each month than can be saved. 

This is why there is a labor shortage. It's simply not worth being an indentured servant to a crappy job so you can earn enough to live in a crappy apartment with no benefits. 
Click to expand...
It is common to still do a big down payment?  I did 3% and that was like 10 years ago.

 
BigRedBuster said:
I disagree.  It's easier to find a job if you have a job.  I would never not hire a person for $20 just because they are working in a $12 job.
Click to expand...
You usually don't pay someone $20+/hr for a skill they learned at a <$12/hr job. Most of the time, it is better to be cultivating that skill fulltime without employment or building a business than taking a position that locks you into lower pay without the time to grow. 

When the person has a <$12/hr job, they have to meet the demands of that job and be onsite during employment hours. Those employment hours more often conflict with the time required to be interviewing or in front of the other employment opportunity. Add in any family, travel time, and other issues, it is not easier to find a job when you have a job. Also, if you have worked too long in a certain field (i.e. low paying one where raises tend to be nonexistent or pennies a year) you are poisoned by expectations from a potential employer. Just like you said, employee made $12/hr for 7 years in that job, why should I pay you $20/hr at this job now?

 
deedsker said:
You usually don't pay someone $20+/hr for a skill they learned at a <$12/hr job. Most of the time, it is better to be cultivating that skill fulltime without employment or building a business than taking a position that locks you into lower pay without the time to grow. 
Click to expand...
I have hired lots of people for $20+/hr jobs when they were making much less.  There are lots of people in those jobs that gain basic skills where we can finish the training here.  My company isn't unique in that.  There are LOTS of jobs out there that do on the job training.

I just hired two people for the office in the last 6 months that fall into this.  One had basic computer skills but had never really worked in Excel.  Fine....we will teach her Excel.

Meanwhile, I can't think of a time where I hired someone for $20 per hour plus and in the interview they said, "well, I haven't been working for 6 months.  But, during that time, I learned how to work in Excel".

This really isn't that hard of a concept.

 
deedsker said:
When the person has a <$12/hr job, they have to meet the demands of that job and be onsite during employment hours. Those employment hours more often conflict with the time required to be interviewing or in front of the other employment opportunity. Add in any family, travel time, and other issues, it is not easier to find a job when you have a job. Also, if you have worked too long in a certain field (i.e. low paying one where raises tend to be nonexistent or pennies a year) you are poisoned by expectations from a potential employer. Just like you said, employee made $12/hr for 7 years in that job, why should I pay you $20/hr at this job now?
Click to expand...
 The going rate to work as a teller at a bank in my area recently was around $12 starting wage.  I have taken multiple people from banks and moved them into $20+ per hour jobs.  They have proven they are responsible and trustworthy enough to work with people's money.  They've also proven they can work with the public and work within a professional environment.

I have another person working for me that was making much less than $20 per hour at a hospital.  Again, same thing as above.  I can easily train someone like that to move into a better job.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
deedsker said:
You usually don't pay someone $20+/hr for a skill they learned at a <$12/hr job. Most of the time, it is better to be cultivating that skill fulltime without employment or building a business than taking a position that locks you into lower pay without the time to grow. 

When the person has a <$12/hr job, they have to meet the demands of that job and be onsite during employment hours. Those employment hours more often conflict with the time required to be interviewing or in front of the other employment opportunity. Add in any family, travel time, and other issues, it is not easier to find a job when you have a job. Also, if you have worked too long in a certain field (i.e. low paying one where raises tend to be nonexistent or pennies a year) you are poisoned by expectations from a potential employer. Just like you said, employee made $12/hr for 7 years in that job, why should I pay you $20/hr at this job now?
Click to expand...
You don't really think this, do you?

Everyone I know that has a job, spends parts of their day (at work) looking for other jobs.

 
BigRedBuster said:
 The going rate to work as a teller at a bank in my area recently was around $12 starting wage.  I have taken multiple people from banks and moved them into $20+ per hour jobs.  They have proven they are responsible and trustworthy enough to work with people's money.  They've also proven they can work with the public.

I have another person working for me that was making much less than $20 per hour at a hospital.  Again, same thing as above.  I can easily train someone like that to move into a better job.
Click to expand...
That is great. Your description of your business and employment history/employee hardships shows that your do pay well and improve a lot of peoples lives. But are there still people in your community working lower paying jobs? Are all bank tellers under 25 and move on to great jobs elsewhere? I do enjoy your point of view, but there are circumstances across the board across the nation. Can you industry employ another couple million people to get everyone better paying jobs?

teachercd said:
Well if you are interested!

https://www.nebraskaeducationjobs.ne.gov/
Click to expand...
I am not. You get paid s**t to deal with s****y people.

 
deedsker said:
That is great. Your description of your business and employment history/employee hardships shows that your do pay well and improve a lot of peoples lives. But are there still people in your community working lower paying jobs? Are all bank tellers under 25 and move on to great jobs elsewhere? I do enjoy your point of view, but there are circumstances across the board across the nation. Can you industry employ another couple million people to get everyone better paying jobs?
Click to expand...
Sure.  But, to a certain extent, that's their fault.  Let me give you an example.

About 5 or 6 years ago, I approached a woman that was working at a bank and asked her to apply.  She didn't.  Many in my office knows the woman and we all thought she would be a great hire.  So, I asked again.  It finally took someone else to approach her for a third time to apply.  She knew she was going to make more money.  We ended up hiring her and she ended up being one of the best people in the office.  I jokingly asked her once why it took so long for her to apply. Her response?  I was content where I was and din't want to ruffle feathers by quitting.  She then expressed how THANKFUL she was that we kept trying because she's making way more money and loves her job.

So......if we didn't ask, she would still be in that much lower paying job.  Whose fault is that?  We advertise jobs all the time for $20+ per hour.  There's lots of people making less but never apply.  Whose fault is that?

 
Dr. Strangelove said:
Not to mention that the number of jobs paying higher wages are limited.
Click to expand...
Not as limited as what people think.

I hired a waitress from a bar one time.  She had worked there for a long time and had never thought about a different job till one day I was talking to her and her boss had pissed her off.  She's making more money and gets to be home with her kid at better hours.

 
BigRedBuster said:
Sure.  But, to a certain extent, that's their fault.  Let me give you an example.

About 5 or 6 years ago, I approached a woman that was working at a bank and asked her to apply.  She didn't.  Many in my office knows the woman and we all thought she would be a great hire.  So, I asked again.  It finally took someone else to approach her for a third time to apply.  She knew she was going to make more money.  We ended up hiring her and she ended up being one of the best people in the office.  I jokingly asked her once why it took so long for her to apply. Her response?  I was content where I was and din't want to ruffle feathers by quitting.  She then expressed how THANKFUL she was that we kept trying because she's making way more money and loves her job.

So......if we didn't ask, she would still be in that much lower paying job.  Whose fault is that?  We advertise jobs all the time for $20+ per hour.  There's lots of people making less but never apply.  Whose fault is that?
Click to expand...
I don't know. How many people who don't live in your community know your positions exist? Without the expressed answer from you (details I am sure you don't want to divulge), I am still completely unaware of your exact business and wouldn't even begin to know to look for it and I grew up in the same state and would have probably benefitted from a position in your company.  :dunno

 
deedsker said:
I don't know. How many people who don't live in your community know your positions exist? Without the expressed answer from you (details I am sure you don't want to divulge), I am still completely unaware of your exact business and wouldn't even begin to know to look for it and I grew up in the same state and would have probably benefitted from a position in your company.  :dunno
Click to expand...
My company is just one example of companies all across the country.  I work with customers everywhere and they say the same thing.  

We advertise on the radio, at the county work development office, do job fairs, work with local HSs, on Indeed, temp services.....etc.

We even have a large sign out front saying we are hiring on a very busy highway.

 
Back
Top