The McJob...The New Normal.

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm


I agree with what you said about unemployed students. I was listening to one of my favorite radio talk shows awhile back and he said he will not hire college grads who have never held a job before. If they joined sororities or fraternities instead of working and being productive while they were in school,their application goes in the trash and he won't even consider hiring them,which I 100% agree with.


I always laughed when I read the posters on the classroom walls "Be a leader, join a Frat". Sure you may seem like a leader among your frat brothers when you do a keg stand, but employers will see it as you get drunk every weekend and you might show up late to work on Monday.

 

[cashmoney]

The primary motivator that drove me to work extra hard to graduate with honors was the seriously [censored] jobs I worked during school and summers. Part-time work was nights as a TV repair man doing house calls and that was pretty good gig. I did 1973 summer day job working as a janitor in two large apartment buildings. Primary work task was many hours opening bags of garbage to remove aerosol cans before throwing each bag in a gas incinerator (the cans had to be removed before hand because they would explode in your face in the incinerator). Nothing motivates like opening 100 apartments worth of stinking garbage, maggots, cat litter, rotted meat, diapers, etc. every day in a hot incinerator room. Spent the next summer day job working at S&C Electric - basically a large scale industrial welding and steel cutting, milling and fabrication facility that was like Hades on earth inside.

 

[Mykl]

Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
I always laughed when I read the posters on the classroom walls "Be a leader, join a Frat". Sure you may seem like a leader among your frat brothers when you do a keg stand, but employers will see it as you get drunk every weekend and you might show up late to work on Monday.




Yeah, but a lot of employers see somebody who was in the same frat and it's an instant hire. The US isn't a meritocracy, typically networking and knowing the right people gets can get you further than being skilled or knowledgeable.

 

[dlundblad]

I am sure this just depends on who the interviewer is.. They could either have a positive or negative opinion over the whole frat thing..

It does pay to know people though.

*I never really understood what a frat was..

 

[Mr Nice]

cashmoney,

Sounds like you graduated from the school of hard knocks.

OT:
I worked at 15 years old unloading grocery trucks at 7AM on the weekends. You couldn't do that today because of child labor laws and the risk of a 15 year old getting hurt on the job.

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
cashmoney,

Sounds like you graduated from the school of hard knocks.

OT:
I worked at 15 years old unloading grocery trucks at 7AM on the weekends. You couldn't do that today because of child labor laws and the risk of a 15 year old getting hurt on the job.



yep. you cant even operate a pallet jack (or any machine.) while under 18.

 

[Mr Nice]

Yep. Unloading pallets of milk and dairy / eggs during a summer thunderstorm. Other trucks were pallets of ice / frozen food.

I can retire at 60 with zero worries about money, but will probably work to stay busy.

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Yep. Unloading pallets of milk and dairy / eggs during a summer thunderstorm. Other trucks were pallets of ice / frozen food.

I can retire at 60 with zero worries about money, but will probably work to stay busy.



That is the best way to do it IMO. Do something around 20 hrs a week or whatever.. Too many "old" guys worked on their feet their whole lives only to retire and sit/ die in a chair only a few years later.

I have seen/ heard about it many times with the old Dana guys especially.

 

[KD0AXS]

There's plenty of opportunity out there, even for people with no post-high school education. Problem is that people these days want everything handed to them on a silver platter, they don't want to earn it.

I don't have any post-high school education, and I managed to bring in $55K last year, simply because I'm willing to apply myself and put in some hard work and long hours when needed. I just got a rather significant raise because I was willing to take on some new work that no one else wanted to do, so this year I'll probably make around $60K. I'm certainly not getting rich, but I'm making a decent living. Now, my experience in this job may be opening up new opportunities for even better jobs in the future.

At one point in my life, I was working $8/hour jobs. I've even been homeless and sleeping in my car or crashing at a friend's place. Now I'm happily married and we have a nice house and are able to afford a few nice things in our life. It takes hard work and determination and doesn't happen overnight, but I'm here to tell you that you can in fact make a decent living even if you aren't able to go to college.

If you are willing to settle for flipping burgers at McDonald's or stocking shelves at Walmart, you're never going to make a living wage. Those jobs are not careers. Never have been, never will be.

 

[Silverado12]

A warehouse was considered a decent career at one time. Now it has been reduced to poverty wages, just like meat cutting trades in some areas, etc. It's real concerning to me because jobs that should be middle class aren't anymore. Maybe unionization is the answer. A surplus of labor will do this, so maybe it's past time to tariff imported products so people can go to work here for decent wages. Doesn't look like that's going to happen, though, but if enough people start getting "starved to death", this country will start to become unstable. It's happened in other places, just not here yet.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
A warehouse was considered a decent career at one time.


^^This. Warehouse and factory jobs used to pay BIG $$ and had great benefits,etc.

 

[doitmyself]

I agree with you Silverado12. The good times of post WWII are over. There are not enough good middle income jobs available for the masses.

There will always be some excellent jobs for those that reach out. But if everyone out of high school attended community college, trade schools, went into their own business, or otherwise climbed the ladder, there would not be enough good paying middle class positions available. Every time we have an economic downturn, the trades people are pounding pavement. Nursing, teaching engineering are all bloated. The fact that nearly all homes are double income is indicative of times changed.

Next, this idea that a blue collar manufacturing type job is easy or not worthy is terrible. Showing up to work everyday for a career that is less than perfect is commendable in itself. I'm not sure why people here are so against a good, blue collar based economy.

Finally, the people here that bring up (constantly) that they became successful through the school of hard knocks need to get over themselves. Many people have done this and most, by age 30, no longer need to remind everyone else how great they are. War veterans don't bemoan how terrible their service was. And, the broad brush painted about college students is incorrect also. Nearly every business in our town is employed with mostly college students.

Some here seem to have a chip on their shoulder and use these threads to boost their image and self esteem. Time to move on.

 

[KD0AXS]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
A warehouse was considered a decent career at one time.


It still can be. Depends on the type of warehouse work you're doing. An experienced forklift operator is going to make more than someone who stuffs items in boxes and slaps shipping labels on them. Both could be considered "warehouse" work.

Maybe this person needs to use their warehouse experience to find a better paying warehouse job elsewhere. Or, maybe they need to express interest in moving up to a better position with their current employer. On the other hand, maybe there's a reason they haven't already moved up to a better position.

 

[Mr Nice]

Fact is our economy needs lower paid employees at any company.

Should the ramp workers loading baggage/suitcases into the cargo bay of an airliner in 100 degree F temps make the same salary as the pilots wearing suits and a tie that don't get all dirty ?

Of course not. Education / professional training and skill set play an important factor in a person's earning potential. If someone works in a warehouse and is unhappy they need to learn a skill that will get them a better job.

We recently hired a guy for a field service position at $28.70 an hour and required just an associates degree .

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Fact is our economy needs lower paid employees at any company.

Should the ramp workers loading baggage/suitcases into the cargo bay of an airliner in 100 degree F temps make the same salary as the pilots wearing suits and a tie that don't get all dirty ?

Of course not. Education / professional training and skill set play an important factor in a person's earning potential. If someone works in a warehouse and is unhappy they need to learn a skill that will get them a better job.

We recently hired a guy for a field service position at $28.70 an hour and required just an associates degree .




I love this mentality that people don't deserve to make a decent wage! When did this start? It's like people are jealous to see others get a decent job. At my company our field service guys make mid $20's and we don't even require an associates degree. Plus they get a company van, cell phone and full benefits. I'm happy for them and wish there were more of these jobs out there.

I want to see everyone making a good living, spending that money in the community promoting commerce and growing our economy. Everyone benefits from this.

 

[Mr Nice]

Dishdude,

In a hospital the folks from materials management (shipping / receiving), environmental (housekeeping/cleaning) and food service (dietary) have a lot less skill set than a nurse / PT / pharmacist / RT. Sure the dietary and environmental, MM employees work very hard but need to be paid a lot less than the second group I mentioned.

Your way of thinking is similar to the fast food employees wanting $15 /hour.

I broke $100K yearly when I did field service with regular OT, but it was my skill set that I was worth $35 an hour... plus company car / pension / etc... My military training + manufacturer training justified my salary.

Should someone off the street make the same salary as me ???

If you say yes... you are foolish to think that.

 

[Mr Nice]

BTW, I repaired / tested / calibrated cardiac balloon pumps and perfusion (heart lung bypass) used for open heart surgery and cath labs. I also worked on anesthesia / ventilators.

High risk life support medical equipment there is zero margin for error.

 

[Silverado12]

I don't think anybody is saying that warehouse people should make 100K, but 16-18 bucks an hour certainly is reasonable. Ten bucks an hour is an insult, but that's the new normal.

 

[cashmoney]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
I don't think anybody is saying that warehouse people should make 100K, but 16-18 bucks an hour certainly is reasonable. Ten bucks an hour is an insult, but that's the new normal.


$10 an hour is an insult only if a person's skills and time are worth more than that.

A recently retired friend of mine flew 777's for a living at the end of his airline career. As a senior captain he earned about $2-3 per minute. Most of the time in a plane that size on its typical routes the captain does very little. He told me he earned his sizable salary for what he could do, not what he did do.

 

[cashmoney]

duplicate post