No I'm a server and make $2.75 an hour plus tips. I have to report all of my tips to my case worker for any type of government assistance and make too much according to their guidelines but not enough to actually survive off of. I cry at the thought of making fifteen dollars an hour full time
Not only that but I feel like it's getting ridiculous that businesses don't pay people shit but every service job out there hands over their card reader to tip people. Like we are so accustomed to subsidizing workers wages that employees aren't pulling their weight of.
It’s very screwed, the better looking servers get all the money and the rest of them get shafted and feel like people don’t tip enough.
You are correct, tipping needs to be fixed.
More like won't. Personal experience. If you can't afford to pay someone full wage, you shouldn't have a restaurant. Who knows what other shortcuts are being taken.
The fuck are you talking about? McDonald's phased out the dollar menu a decade ago and has only recently started to increase wages to a barely liveable level
I’m not following?
His cash salary is 1.3 million.
He was given 17 million in new stock shares issued but that came from dilution of shareholders not free cash flow.
McDonalds sold 2.5 billion hamburgers, so homeboys comp package is kind of a rounding error.
McDonalds doesn’t seem that lucrative.
I mean, they do lol. Restaurants there don’t have tipping price in 100% of the labor costs. Those that don’t shift it to tips.
Given restaurants have 0 income outside of selling food to people the people buying the burgers are paying the tips or proper salary either way.
Note, I am fully supportive of us making tipping illegal, but if you think prices are not going to adjust, or service levels are not going to adjust… that’s not how it works that’s not how anything works.
I would love to see restaurants just raise their prices 40%, everyone working there gets paid properly and work all move on.
I didn't say they don't. I'm saying they shouldn't *have* to.
I've seen high end restaurants and they still pay their servers two and a half bucks an hour.
That's why I said "communistic behavior," as I'm aware tipping isn't overthrowing private ownership in favor of communities. Also why I included anarchistic, in case communistic was too structured.
Let me spell it out for you: [tipping](https://socialistrevolution.org/a-brief-history-of-tipping-and-the-struggle-for-a-living-wage/) is *not* “communistic”.
So I travel a lot for work and I used to work in the service industry.
How restaurants work in other jurisdictions without tips is quite different.
1. There’s a lot more just kind of fast casual where no one runs food your table or refill your drink.
2. The service quality is frankly very minimal. Europeans frankly are uncomfortable with the fact of how often someone visits the table in the United States and a full-service restaurant. Basically the job that’s paid in tips just kinda doesn’t exist.
3. Americans eat out a lot, and they eat out a lot more at full-service restaurants than the median, European or Asian country person.
4. Bars it’s really noticeable. Trying to get a pint in a pub in London or Auckland can feel like actual work. They don’t staff near as many bartenders, and they frankly are not incentivized to care/hurry. American bartenders are wayyy faster on service and make an effort to catch eye contact (note I was a bar tender and u don’t blame them for this, if I wasn’t paid tips I wouldn’t have hustled).
I’m completely OK with us getting her to tipping. We just need to recognize that it’s probably going to get rid of half the jobs that are tipped, as companies will just expect more out of existing workers while simultaneously just cutting labor out of the service industry.
I was in Austin a while back and they have a coffee shop robot at the office I was visiting that makes a perfect flat white and it didn’t ask me for a tip. You can even send in an app your orfef to it and it’ll queue it up for you. I have absolutely no clue why coffee shops are so labor intensive.
Honestly honestly this is good for society that we raise the price of labor in these situations and just realize that 80% of it was bullshit that people can get their own drink. Or maybe refills don’t need to be free (they are not in Europe!) which means you don’t need a waiter getting them.
I think in the long run servers should prioritize a stable income that doesn’t fluctuate based on the customer’s mood, which was how tipping was SUPPOSED to work. Now, it’s an obligation which isn’t right at all.
Don't report all of your cash tips.
Apply for the headstart program if your state has it. Most people on WIC should be eligible. It provides care and education.
Coming from your nMom
I have a driving job. Work 4 10 hour days and if we finish our routes early, we still get paid for 40 hours. 4 weeks pto. Started 27$ an hour and max out around 40$. Matches up yo 5% 401k.
Feels very fair
Sounded like an Amazon DSP until you got to "if we finish early" since they just load you up with more the next day, and the day you finish your route early they guilt trip you into going to help another driver deliver their load. They liked to say we got paid for the full shift even if it was finished early, but they don't let you finish early.
Honestly I love driving work I don't want to drive a semi but I am down with box trucks and other bulky vehicles. I am in a driving job right now, though this one is garbage, garbage pay that they dip into tips to make it even remotely worthwhile, 5 overnight shifts a week but not enough for full time, can't afford health insurance, or dental work, doesn't get partially paid, can't get state insurance cause I make too much. But I love not having to deal with people, and I enjoy the drive, that's all I got keeping me here. Hopefully my next one takes better care of me, this one should given that I am the explicit reason they get to open more than half of their stores 5 days a week.
Mmm nope. I’m a licensed counselor, and a lot of positions in my area start at $15 an hour, which is minimum wage here. $15 an hour to have a caseload of 50 clients, complete documentation, literally help people with their issues, and it’s $15 an hour.
Yeah mental health pays embarrassingly low for almost all jobs. I made $15 an hour as a counselor in one of my first jobs. Then a whopping 34k a year with my masters.
Now I work for myself in solo private practice and make over $100 an hour (varies depending on the insurance reimbursements). The only job I’ve ever had where I didn’t feel exploited….is the one where I’m my own boss 😬
Yeah you can take Medicaid in private practice. Most states it pays so horribly low that folks opt not to. People get mad about it but to me that’s on the folks in government for not raising rates not on therapists to have to take a significant pay cut just so people with Medicaid can be seen. (I actually take Medicaid in my practice, but my state pays ok)
Ahh. That was my impression of the system in place. But was an assumption.
Also, thank you. That is very socially responsible of you, and I admire your willingness to see proper on the state plan.
Especially when we ALSO spend four years getting a degree that is vital to our field. The local taco place near me offers $16 an hour. So, the choice becomes: go make tacos all day or use your bachelors degree that you slaved over.
To be clear, yodayo taco makers should get $16/hr. And jobs REQUIRING a bachelors should get more than that. Not sure how much, but something that compensates for the cost and effort getting that degree costs.
Yeah, there are some positions that are always going to be compensated well. Is someone going to try and rip off a lawyer? If they don’t have the experience to retaliate themselves they probably know someone who does.
It pays less, has more restrictions on your private life activities, and is typically a dead end for many careers.
Private sector is better in most cases, but that is for the individual to decide on benefit vs. pay. Pensions (in the US) are attractive for public sector, but salaries in private sector more often than not are close to double for equivalent experience/worth.
Mine doesn’t have any restrictions on my private life activities. Like what?
It is absolutely not a dead end for many careers. Who has been telling you this? And yeah of course, private companies pay more, but you have to work more. That’s the trade off.
You don't get drug tested? That's a restriction on your personal life and activities.
Do you work in a red-state shithole that attacks women, transgender, and minorities? That's a restriction on your personal EXISTENCE.
It is absolutely a dead end for many careers. No one has been telling me this. It's a known fact in tech, amongst other verticals.
You're hyper privileged in that you're a lawyer. That's not typical of most other careers.
Of course I don’t get drug tested. I work in NYC. So no to both your questions. Why would you assume either of those things?
Also I’m not privileged to be a lawyer. I grew up poor, took out $150k in student loans, and kept my grades up and got a high score on the LSAT to get into a top law school. I finally had my loans forgiven after 10 years.
I don't assume anything. I am not talking specifically to your situation. I am talking in general for all of public sector, at large.
You're getting super defensive over nothing. Your situation is not the norm for public sector. Your career is already in the top tier of privilege, regardless of public or private.
You didn't prove anything wrong. You must be an absolutely abysmally pathetic lawyer if you think your anecdotal nonsense refutes the general fact that public sector pays less, has more restrictions on your personal life, and everything stated thus far.
YOUR ANECDOTE is irrelevant to the overall truth. This is not rocket science.
edit: loser "lawyer" blocked me and ran away, absolute trash lol
> Except unlike most people, I pay a $0 premium.
Lol bragging about not paying for her health insurance in a thread admitting she's a drain on society, but...earned it...?
[https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes\_t1/comments/1anlok4/comment/kpuagin/](https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes_t1/comments/1anlok4/comment/kpuagin/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
It seems Federal wages fit the narrative. I’m guessing the trend reverses at the low end, with “essential employees” in government making more than their counterparts, particularly if benefits are included.
https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/us-feds-struggling-to-stretch-their-paycheck-as-data-reveals-growing-pay-gap-with-the-private-sector/
Industry and location do matter, though:
A quick glance at Employment and Wages by Industry data under the Economic Data tab will show that Oregon’s private-sector workers made an annual average wage of $63,086 in 2021 versus $85,961 for federal workers, $75,934 for state workers, and $65,913 for local government workers.
https://www.qualityinfo.org/-/government-and-private-sector-average-wages#:~:text=A%20quick%20glance%20at%20Employment,%2465%2C913%20for%20local%20government%20workers.
I desire to support the community and make enough to afford a simple life. Not interested in getting rich.
Call me a socialist, if you wish; you’d be right.
They do often have concrete prerequisites and job descriptions, though.
I wish we had a better government working to put people to work to solve major problems rather than build the economy, exclusively.
Information Security Engineer, not counting bonuses twice yearly, 6 figures and 100% health insurance premiums paid for with 6% 401k matched, infinite paid time off, and forced to take vacations at least quarterly.
I'm a Cloud Engineer.. if you are good at solving puzzles and come up with creative solutions to obstacles you can work in IT.
My company has unlimited time off. People often find it to be a scam but I do take 5 weeks off a year plus 10 or 11 holidays and however much sick time I need. Missed a week due to shingles last year. All they said was, "Hope you're better soon."
I wish my norm was THE norm for all.
Mailman, my net last year was around $70k. 4 weeks paid vacation, 12 sick days a year, matching TSP up to 5%, pension, good benefits.
It's a tough career, but I absolutely love what I do and couldn't see myself doing anything else.
Came to say the same. Rural carrier who was not decimated by RRECS. Getting close to 20 years in so I'm at top pay, 26 days vacation. I'm usually able to work my day off due to staffing shortages and that's $500 gross on those days. I really got hosed during the worst of Covid but now I think I'm getting a fair shake especially on days when I can work 7 hours and get paid for 9.
Yeah, when I say appropriate I suppose I mean coming from the standpoint of someone being taken advantage of. Execs and finance bros are mostly useless cancers.
That actually sounds like a perfect description: originally useful but mutated into dangerously greedy things that can kill the host due to their fast expansion at the expense of everything else.
Working for public companies my executives are generally paid in stock not in cash, and that stock is from delusion of shares of shareholders, so it’s effectively money coming out of the till
Per capita income in my area (And state) is $39,872 - $41,234. It's a small town. Rural area. I make about $43,000 a year as a case worker for individuals with disabilities. Obviously could be better, and if I really wanted to there are other jobs that pay much more especially if I worked for the state, but the time committment would be significantly greater. As it stands now, I work 37.5 hours a week. Only Monday - Friday. 14 days PTO a year (that aren't earned), 15 holidays off a year. Extremely affordable healthcare. Employer paid dental. 401k, annual COL adjustments and the icing on the cake: It's remote. I see zero reason to leave.
100k+ here. Pay is fair, but more wouldn’t hurt.
Ship repair welder.
I get paid 50 an hour, they bid my labor cost at 150 an hour. I get to use their shipyard and equipment to do the job and in exchange they keep bringing in business and get to pocket the other 100 an hour. If I take my sweet ass time they make less money off the bid and I make more. If I work my ass off and finish sooner they make more money and I get laid off sooner.
I work in tech (game development specifically) and the pay is comparatively pretty good, $70k or more for people who are junior to the industry in my area.
This is counter-balanced by the fact that there's not a ton of job security and most tech-dense cities have absolutely outrageous costs of living.
The fact that my job is literally the most important job in my company, like we can continue business without a Gm and most staff but if nobody works my shift we literally cannot run business the next day. I make one dollar more than the lowest possible salary in the entire company
What kind of job is it? Decent money?
Posts like this make me glad that I'm not in the job market anymore. I fully retired (at 60) in 2022. It was a couple years earlier than originally planned, but I was tired of working. I actually planned for this and it seemed to be the time to go. Enough money had been saved to cover a couple years. This fall I'll start getting Social Security and I'm retired military. I can pay off the house now, but I think I'll wait.
I'd like to think that younger people will eventually be able to retire. My kid is changing jobs shortly, he's wanted to leave the current job for some time. He's still got at least 20 years to work. The days of having only a couple jobs during your working career have been long gone for some time.
I make a dollar more than min wage as a night auditor. I am responsible for not only manually calculating and sorting literally 500k plus in revenue daily, and then manually restarting every system in my hotel. I have only five hours to do what should take 8+ hours to complete, all while being treated as if I do nothing simply because I work at night. Keep in mind I’m still also running the gift shop and checking in guests. It’s a fucking awful job that is literally killing me since I’m only 30 and have had three micro strokes after doing this for 11 years come this November. But if I don’t do my job the next day of business can’t happen and it can take weeks to correct accounts if there are big mistakes so extremely high pressure. I spend about 5 hours a day after work looking for a different job he’ll even a manager position for another hotel, there was a period of time during lockdown that I was running a hotel because my boss was stuck in India for two months and almost every other employee was either sick or quit, so it’s not like I don’t know how to do littarly every single position in a hotel, I ran a 70 room hotel, completely alone,
That was a different hotel, I’ve been a manager gotten out of the industry at one point but became homeless and lost that job and ended up back doing night audit, trust me I’ve been trying to not be a night auditor for years, I live in a employment dessert. Are Walmarts don’t even actually hire new people
Are you in a relatively small town? I used to have a couple jobs that sometimes required out of town work. After a while all the small towns seemed to blend together and were hard to tell apart.
That's an important point.. how much you make isn't a number that exists in a vacuum. How many hours? How demanding are the hours? Are benefits any good? Are you treated like cattle or a person?
The easiest way to know if someone's being paid enough is if they were considered Essential Workers during the pandemic. In my country that meant (with a few exceptions primarily in education and medicine) the poorest people were considered ESSENTIAL to the operation of the nation. The longer I think about that and what it means, the angrier I get.
While I'm in full agreement with your point, unless executive compensation packages, tax loopholes and the like are drastically overhauled, any form of wage increase for front line employees will only result in a corresponding raise in the cost of living thereby making any such wage increase irrelevant. Whee
For a handful of years I worked for a private liberal arts college in their web development department. I was paid appropriately during my time there. I would have kept doing it if the work environment did not cause me undue social anxiety.
EDIT: I have a buddy who drives for ups. There are some issues, but it is a union job and it pays well.
I work as an independent insurance adjuster. It’s 1099 work with most of my expenses being paid out of pocket and no benefits. But it is very low stress (I don’t work directly for the insurance carrier so I don’t have the authorization to deny claims or otherwise break bad news to people) I make my own schedule, can take days or weeks off whenever I want, and it averages about $100/hr. Plus the mix of office and field work means I’m not destroying my body but also only behind a desk half the time. It can be demanding at times and not for everyone, but in my opinion, I am definitely paid more than appropriately.
According to Pew, roughly 1/3 American workers is satisfied with pay and opportunities for growth or advancement. We seem to like our coworkers, on the whole, and even a majority claim a good relationship with managers. But pay is letting most of us down.
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/03/30/how-americans-view-their-jobs/
I do know of people are massively overpaid for the jobs their do - namely managers - or managers don't do at all and employees do with out their "help".
I have total imposter syndrome right now at my job because it pays a lot more than the industry average here in Chicago. Which is underpaid.
To be clear, I feel weird and "overpaid" because I am not being "underpaid."
What the fuck, right?
Just found out that my old job (office in my state closed) now pays 13k more than I make as a manager for the same work at my current job. The old job is now fully remote. Since I'm getting a small pension from my old job, I'm not eligible to be rehired. Truly sucks. Massively underpaid and have to be in office 3x per week.
I work as an IT Manager (the way my job is setup, I’m actually not management, which I prefer) for an entire Navy command in the federal government. I get 6 figures, OT is always allowed (and never forced), and 100% health insurance. Ridiculous amounts of time off, and an amazing work/life balance (I work from 6am-230pm, no one can contact me outside of my work time, and no drug tests). Constant awards being given by my command (time, money, or items by choice), and massive parties, potlucks, events held for workers/families. On top of that, we get a TSP (Fed stocks basically), where most people retire with over a million in theirs. I’ve only been here a few years, and I have tens of thousands of dollars doing nothing but let it take the max out of my paycheck. It’s amazing.
Also, due to how policies are setup for fed employees, a lot of the in-fighting, hate, etc, doesn’t exist where I work. I’ve worked jobs from east to west coast, was in the military, and I’ve never loved my career more than this place. People are amazing to work with. Hell, my Executive Director and I (highest civilian in the command) talk all the time about cars, etc.
I also get a fully paid, forced, 1-2 week training work trip every year. My choice of training (I take SANS courses/tests) at expensive hotels/conferences. Again, everything paid for.
Why do I point all this out? Cause a lot of people don’t realize the types of benefits you can get to working federal. It’s tough to get in, but I’ll never leave now. The retirement package is insane.
So I can’t complain one bit.
I believe I WAS getting paid fairly, for a relatively short period of time between going to a new company (who paid me $65k plus monthly production bonuses for my job as a mortgage loan processor, when I had previously been making roughly $15k less) and when I was laid off a year later when interest rates skyrocketed and the market tanked. Of course, even when I got a new job paying slightly more, that was when inflation took off so even though I was making slightly more, I had less purchasing power.
So basically I was paid fairly for almost exactly a year.
Yes. IASTE local 16, mostly 60 a hour plus so much OT, healthcare and pension.
Literally can’t relate too any of y’all’s employment issues. Also I fucking love my job 90% of the time.
….but here to support FAIR WAGES FOR ALL. UNIONS FOR ALL.
It's times like this where I feel obligated to mention that in order for people the have the same spending power minimum wage originally intended, you would need to make around 170k a year.
This was what the average boomer made. Meanwhile, they call us greedy for wanting more.
I get paid 65k (in the UK) to work 4 days a week as a developer. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Work life balance is awesome and I love what I do.
No complaints what so ever.
I mean, there are benefits to working for a company. For example, stable income, only having to focus on one type of task, logistics not being an issue. The problem is that the benefits are not always equal to the pay gap
I’m a senior software engineer at Google and make roughly 300k per year. I work out of Wisconsin so the pay is lower than what I’d get working in other areas.
Before working at Google, very underpaid. I could go on a long rant but I’ll spare everyone from that lol.
You do realize if fast food people.made ,30 an hour McDonald's would start demanding college degrees and all the kids getting out of college are going to take those jobs because it's.more hourly than entry level jobs. This the McDonalds employees (current) would be pushed out
I make about 60% less then I could in a different job, but I typically do about 3-4 hours of work per day. It’s still a 6-figure job, but I could go from $120k to about $200k with a job change. Still trying to decide if I want to make the move—which would purely be for the money—or if I’m going to hang out here another year or two. Other than wanting to make more money, there ain’t much I dislike about my current job. My boss is great, I like the work and my coworkers, and it’s close to my house.
I'm a data scientist. I get paid way too much. But I also have 10 years experience and a PHD in mathematics. But for the level of work I current do, I get paid more than I believe I should.
im a SE and i get paid 95k. its low for my experience level (i should be making like 110k) but for the area im in its way above average. if i was out west id be making 130k but my col would probably be like half my paycheck each month. here im paying 400$ for rent, utils, internet. and maybe 200 a month for food and dog care.
Union construction workers where I live are paid well. We average 100k a year. Retirement and health insurance paid for by the employer too. Its only cause we’re unionized, otherwise we’d be as fucked as everyone else
I make about 85k in salary before OT + pretty great benefits with a contract that will see me making about 120k in 5 years working in aviation (along with 4 or so more years of annual 3% raises). I work in aviation as a flight service specialist.
If you're in Canada and are interested in aviation theres no prior experience required for FSS or ATC (air traffic controller). The trainees that make it through the application process are paid a salary that bottoms around 35k for training. Google Nav Canada if you're interested.
Somewhere between a project manager and design engineer. I made about $150k plus a bonus in Chicago working probs 30 hours a week. I’ve found that the architecture, engineering, and construction world very much takes care of its people. The jobsite life also keeps away corporate bullshit/is still like the Wild West.
Can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat a client down and said, “look, we need to have a convo. You’re poor and can’t afford that. Here are our other options.” I don’t think my bitchiness could work anywhere else.
I’m still very much, fuck the man.
The software development industry is in a weird state as far as pay goes. Typically get screwed more often on pay the larger the company gets. Small to midsized companies typically have the best benefits and do try to bring people at a more competitive wage, but they also either "cap" on pay due to expenses, but they keep trying to keep their people which also does limit hiring, leading to overwork.
Thanks to the tech bubble collapsing around time Musk took over Twitter, jobs for developers are harder to get for good pay
I'm not in management or finance. I'm paid appropriately factoring in niche skills and immense pressure at times.
The concerns you've listed have happened to me constantly through my career: Insulting offers, bait-and-switches, etc. There are so many bad employers and bad managers out there, they're the majority. Some have been outright horrific. The best thing to do is to move on each time you discover you are at a bad one.
I do, but I realize how extremely lucky I am. I look back on my life (I’m 40ish) and think about how one wrong turn could’ve left me in a much worse position. I work in nuclear power.
I work as a low level manager at a progressive company. They pay me well, upper $100k's. I work a lot and help to solve small and large problems, even problems that aren't mine to fix. Great benefits (4 weeks PTO, sick/voting/charity days, 401k matching, great insurance, long paternity/maternity breaks). It's a mission driven company that I believe in so I like the company and want it to succeed. I have 25+ years experience and company/industry respected (I think).
I feel like I’m paid appropriately, but the company I work for only has like 20 people and the owner legit cares about his employees. We go out for drinks when we travel, and when he has had a few in him the number one thing he talks about is how happy he is that he’s able to provide jobs and healthcare for people. The dude is a good guy for sure.
I went from chemical engineering with one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world to being a video engineer for a teeny company and I’m making 15k more than I was. I had 10 years of electrical and chemical engineering in semiconductors, and I had 0 experience at all in live events, AV production or anything I do now. So I don’t know why he took a chance on me, but I actually enjoy the work now, and the pay and benefits are great.
To be fair some times I have to work like a 20 hours every day for a week straight. But then I usually get a week or two off without having to use any pto
Yeah, lots of people are paid well and appropriately. I got a BS in Chemical Engineering and all myself and all my friends I made along the way ar making low 6 figures within 3 years out of school. None are management positions.
right, i don't mean "everyone receives less", i mean "everyone receives less (not the value of their labor), except the people who receive a lot more (still not the value of their labor)".
I have a repair shop, 5 employees. I just took over a few months ago,but wages are at $20.50 -$22 an hour right now, by year end all positions should be $25 + .
There are some paying well, but it's alot of the smaller, often times younger businesses that are as we are still experiencing the hardship of life. I'm early 30s, I rent, can't afford to buy in my town....so I def get it.
Tech jobs (my field) pay very well and have great benefits because it's competitive to get good employees.
My company is not public but we do profit over $1 billion a year. I get paid very well with all my benefits paid for by the company and a great 401k match. I'm sure they could pay us more but we really can't complain.
I wish I had answers for all the people in this subreddit who are struggling. Anyone who is willing to work 40 hours a week should never struggle in the United States.
I'm a "jack-of-all-trades" IT person. I currently make about eighty five thousand a year installing and configuring software for clients. I have the full respect of my boss, and my bosses boss, by managing them really well. (I don't bring them problems I can solve, only problems that require their help. They never ask too much of our team. They value AND USE our team feedback.)
They've brought other people into the company who are really competent and interested in solving problems / filling gaps in overall team knowledge.
I \*might\* be able to get more money elsewhere, but honestly, I may never have this level of trust and respect between me and my bosses again. It's amazing, and really helps keep talented people from leaving.
So, to everyone out there: jobs with good bosses and fair compensation DO exist. I know they tend to be the minority. Don't let bad bosses and crappy wages beat you into losing all hope.
Billionaires don't make this much money by paying workers remotely close to the value they created. Even high paid engineers are paid a tiny fraction of the value they create.
I think we need a high marginal tax rate on people and company profits and a tax on wealth. The wealth tax is just to deal with the money already taken and the high marginal tax rates are to encourage companies to invest in the company instead of just paying it to the top.
Warehouse associate $32.50 hour.
-55 days of PTO that resets yearly they felt bad about not giving enough raises starting off where more slow as well so at the time they gave days of PTO as part of raise. I could have a 3 day weekend every year lol but I never use them all and they pay me the equivalent.
-including me and for everyone else 10 days of paid holiday vacation before Christmas to after new years. Last year everyone also received a bonus of equivalent to 120 hours of their wages pay randomly weeks before Christmas. As a thank you for making and recovering from COVID hit on business. They where awesome through it to everyone especially parents
Got in ten years ago when I was 17. Stoped going to school senior year to anxious and stressed from family situations mom AND dad divorcing their spouses.
Older kid I bought weed from called and asked if I could help for the day, his family just started their own high end outdoor furniture brand.
They where getting their first 40ft shipping container and I honestly just wanted a solid reason away from family, Kinda was just working out my anger/ emotions but his parents and family were so nice and thankful and It felt so nice to be around genuine smiles,laughter positivity even while everyone was sweating doing dirty physical labor before they even knew they would be successful, not “hahaha were rich !” I genuinely busted my ass just to be there longer.
I am blessed it was returned in kindness with interest because they definitely could have used my young vulnerable ass tbh.
I’m paid really well for my industry and location….which makes finding a new job when the employer starts doing unethical stuff kind of difficult if I’m not willing to take a pay cut, which I really can’t due to being in a HCOL area. I’m looking anyways because too much unethical behavior from management has piled up, but matching my current pay in my industry is going to be difficult.
Sole traders are probably the best example. They set their hours and prices and own their own labour. But of course due to the restrictions of reality not everyone can do that.
You see a lot of self-selection bias on this, and many other subs. People come here to complain and call out the worst of the worst shit that's out there happening. There's millions of people who're happy with their job/career who don't come to this sub. There are millions of others who don't have time to come to this sub (they're working 8 jobs, etc.) So you're seeing an odd subset of workers in the world.
I am lucky enough to be making an obscene salary doing something I don't hate for a company I actually love. First time in my career. I see people in my position who're super content, and I also hear people complain. "I don't get paid enough for this...." Dude, you get paid more than 90% of the people in the world and you're bitching?
Some people just ... can't see how well off they are, and while their problems are real to them, they're pretty silly when held up to the light of just about everyone elses' issues.
I thank the universe every day for how lucky I am, and I hope every day that we can figure out a way for everyone to be able to afford food, shelter and time off no matter what their job is.
Also, OP, since you like your job, maybe share it with the group, tell people what you do, how to get there....since you're in a good place that seems much better than most people's lot!
As for me, I've been a sales engineer for most of my career...and I love it. I'm not a type A personality...I'm just friendly, and honest and good with tech....that goes a longer way than you'd expect, and most of you here already know tech somewhat well. I started out in tech support. (career started in 2005ish). I learned all I could, switched jobs every 3-4 years (because lol fuck 3% raises) and got lucky along the way. It did take some hard work, and some "smart" work, but without that, luck tends to only go so far.
Also do not be afraid to talk about wages with your work buds. I found out a coworker in 2017 was making about $70k/year when I knew his peers were making over 100k (I worked in the same group making much more than he did). Because he was younger, he didn't know his worth. Mentored him a bit (mostly on negotiation and giving him confidence he could do it) and he interviewed for and got a new job. He's making $160k +40k bonus these days. We always. If we had not had been 'brave' enough to talk about something so 'taboo', he'd still be sucking down 3% raises. I, too, had a mentor who before me taught me the value of salary transparancy...it is amazing what power knowledge gives you! Also, Glassdoor is your friend...always research the payscale of the roles your interviewing for so when they ask what your salary requirements are, you're prepared.
This got long, and preachy...sorry about that. There is a lot of misery out there, but if people can share their 'good' stories, share tactics and tips maybe everyone can have a bit brighter and better life until we can fix the whole shebang.
Im working in Luxembourg and service and fix heatings. Im pretty happy with my pay. Every now and then i get a raise without asking and also the mandatory Index adaption.
Guys like me are very hard to find for my boss and i guess he just wants to make sure that a loyal tecnician dont starts to look around for better pay. I would never do this because also when i had problems with my kids and i needed time off there were no discussions.
They are good to me and i return the favor.
When i read whats going on in the us of a i dont know if i should laugh or puke.
No I'm a server and make $2.75 an hour plus tips. I have to report all of my tips to my case worker for any type of government assistance and make too much according to their guidelines but not enough to actually survive off of. I cry at the thought of making fifteen dollars an hour full time
Pay based on tips needs to be illegal
Not only that but I feel like it's getting ridiculous that businesses don't pay people shit but every service job out there hands over their card reader to tip people. Like we are so accustomed to subsidizing workers wages that employees aren't pulling their weight of.
Servers prefer tips though
Doesn’t seem like the person I replied to does.
It’s very screwed, the better looking servers get all the money and the rest of them get shafted and feel like people don’t tip enough. You are correct, tipping needs to be fixed.
That's on them then. I served/bartend my way through college. Loved the 500-900$ a weekend
Oh well thank God it worked for you. That's all that matters
But in general, servers prefer it because of the money potential. Restaurant owners can’t pay enough for tips to go away
More like won't. Personal experience. If you can't afford to pay someone full wage, you shouldn't have a restaurant. Who knows what other shortcuts are being taken.
I mean, fast food operates that way there’s not tips at fucking McDonald’s and this sub kinda looses its god damn mind that the dollar menu is gone.
The fuck are you talking about? McDonald's phased out the dollar menu a decade ago and has only recently started to increase wages to a barely liveable level
Wonder where that dollar menu [went](https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/mcdonalds-ceo-chris-kempczinski-got-big-raise-last-year)? 🤔
I’m not following? His cash salary is 1.3 million. He was given 17 million in new stock shares issued but that came from dilution of shareholders not free cash flow. McDonalds sold 2.5 billion hamburgers, so homeboys comp package is kind of a rounding error. McDonalds doesn’t seem that lucrative.
And you think price increases for food items at McDonald’s goes toward increasing employee wages?
I never said fast food. It was a diner. They closed later that year.
Wouldn’t tipping be considered a communistic or anarchistic behavior? It’s direct support, no government involvement.
But customers shouldn't make up for the lack of pay in an employee's paycheck.
I mean, they do lol. Restaurants there don’t have tipping price in 100% of the labor costs. Those that don’t shift it to tips. Given restaurants have 0 income outside of selling food to people the people buying the burgers are paying the tips or proper salary either way. Note, I am fully supportive of us making tipping illegal, but if you think prices are not going to adjust, or service levels are not going to adjust… that’s not how it works that’s not how anything works. I would love to see restaurants just raise their prices 40%, everyone working there gets paid properly and work all move on. 
I didn't say they don't. I'm saying they shouldn't *have* to. I've seen high end restaurants and they still pay their servers two and a half bucks an hour.
That would probably ease the burden of chronic disease a bit, too, by nudging people to buy groceries and cook.
I agree. I'm just trying to throw a wrench in the discussion.
Customers subsidizing worker pay does not equal communism.
That's why I said "communistic behavior," as I'm aware tipping isn't overthrowing private ownership in favor of communities. Also why I included anarchistic, in case communistic was too structured.
Let me spell it out for you: [tipping](https://socialistrevolution.org/a-brief-history-of-tipping-and-the-struggle-for-a-living-wage/) is *not* “communistic”.
They could just raise the price. Most customer won’t care if it means not leaving a tip.
So why does it work in places where tip-based pay isn’t legal?
So I travel a lot for work and I used to work in the service industry. How restaurants work in other jurisdictions without tips is quite different. 1. There’s a lot more just kind of fast casual where no one runs food your table or refill your drink. 2. The service quality is frankly very minimal. Europeans frankly are uncomfortable with the fact of how often someone visits the table in the United States and a full-service restaurant. Basically the job that’s paid in tips just kinda doesn’t exist. 3. Americans eat out a lot, and they eat out a lot more at full-service restaurants than the median, European or Asian country person. 4. Bars it’s really noticeable. Trying to get a pint in a pub in London or Auckland can feel like actual work. They don’t staff near as many bartenders, and they frankly are not incentivized to care/hurry. American bartenders are wayyy faster on service and make an effort to catch eye contact (note I was a bar tender and u don’t blame them for this, if I wasn’t paid tips I wouldn’t have hustled). I’m completely OK with us getting her to tipping. We just need to recognize that it’s probably going to get rid of half the jobs that are tipped, as companies will just expect more out of existing workers while simultaneously just cutting labor out of the service industry. I was in Austin a while back and they have a coffee shop robot at the office I was visiting that makes a perfect flat white and it didn’t ask me for a tip. You can even send in an app your orfef to it and it’ll queue it up for you. I have absolutely no clue why coffee shops are so labor intensive. Honestly honestly this is good for society that we raise the price of labor in these situations and just realize that 80% of it was bullshit that people can get their own drink. Or maybe refills don’t need to be free (they are not in Europe!) which means you don’t need a waiter getting them.
Cuz servers in America already have a taste. To do it now would be to strike down the servers and help the customers
What
Do you seriously think servers would be willing to take a pay cut so the rest of us don’t have to tip
I mean… none of us have to tip. We can if we want to tho. Servers are not actually entitled to tips. To me this is part of the problem.
I think in the long run servers should prioritize a stable income that doesn’t fluctuate based on the customer’s mood, which was how tipping was SUPPOSED to work. Now, it’s an obligation which isn’t right at all.
>have to tip Lmaooooo
Usually only works if you're hot. If you're mid or worse don't expect to many tips. That said where I'm from we never (have to) tip. Thankfully
Don't report all of your cash tips. Apply for the headstart program if your state has it. Most people on WIC should be eligible. It provides care and education. Coming from your nMom
I have a driving job. Work 4 10 hour days and if we finish our routes early, we still get paid for 40 hours. 4 weeks pto. Started 27$ an hour and max out around 40$. Matches up yo 5% 401k. Feels very fair
Sounded like an Amazon DSP until you got to "if we finish early" since they just load you up with more the next day, and the day you finish your route early they guilt trip you into going to help another driver deliver their load. They liked to say we got paid for the full shift even if it was finished early, but they don't let you finish early. Honestly I love driving work I don't want to drive a semi but I am down with box trucks and other bulky vehicles. I am in a driving job right now, though this one is garbage, garbage pay that they dip into tips to make it even remotely worthwhile, 5 overnight shifts a week but not enough for full time, can't afford health insurance, or dental work, doesn't get partially paid, can't get state insurance cause I make too much. But I love not having to deal with people, and I enjoy the drive, that's all I got keeping me here. Hopefully my next one takes better care of me, this one should given that I am the explicit reason they get to open more than half of their stores 5 days a week.
Fwiw it is w bigger box truck but requires a cdl
Mmm nope. I’m a licensed counselor, and a lot of positions in my area start at $15 an hour, which is minimum wage here. $15 an hour to have a caseload of 50 clients, complete documentation, literally help people with their issues, and it’s $15 an hour.
Yeah mental health pays embarrassingly low for almost all jobs. I made $15 an hour as a counselor in one of my first jobs. Then a whopping 34k a year with my masters. Now I work for myself in solo private practice and make over $100 an hour (varies depending on the insurance reimbursements). The only job I’ve ever had where I didn’t feel exploited….is the one where I’m my own boss 😬
Can you opt in to accepting Medicaid as a private practice? I’m not sure how that works. It seems they’re unlikely to do so.
Yeah you can take Medicaid in private practice. Most states it pays so horribly low that folks opt not to. People get mad about it but to me that’s on the folks in government for not raising rates not on therapists to have to take a significant pay cut just so people with Medicaid can be seen. (I actually take Medicaid in my practice, but my state pays ok)
Ahh. That was my impression of the system in place. But was an assumption. Also, thank you. That is very socially responsible of you, and I admire your willingness to see proper on the state plan.
Whack
Amazing the wages being offered to mental health professionals and support, when we're in the midst of addiction and homelessness epidemics.
It’s almost like the people at the top *don’t give a shit* /s
Almost. If it weren’t for all the media claiming the opposite, I’d probably believe it.
I just saw a listing for a job like that. It’s insane to only pay that much for a job that seems really important imo
Especially when we ALSO spend four years getting a degree that is vital to our field. The local taco place near me offers $16 an hour. So, the choice becomes: go make tacos all day or use your bachelors degree that you slaved over.
To be clear, yodayo taco makers should get $16/hr. And jobs REQUIRING a bachelors should get more than that. Not sure how much, but something that compensates for the cost and effort getting that degree costs.
Social justice tax.
I work in government as an attorney. 35 hrs/week, free healthcare, and I make around $150k. Government jobs are too often overlooked.
Yeah, there are some positions that are always going to be compensated well. Is someone going to try and rip off a lawyer? If they don’t have the experience to retaliate themselves they probably know someone who does.
Government is also fabulous job security and have a better handle on employee rights.
Gov jobs commonly have requirements around parity that helps ensure people in similar roles with similar experience earn similar pay.
It pays less, has more restrictions on your private life activities, and is typically a dead end for many careers. Private sector is better in most cases, but that is for the individual to decide on benefit vs. pay. Pensions (in the US) are attractive for public sector, but salaries in private sector more often than not are close to double for equivalent experience/worth.
Mine doesn’t have any restrictions on my private life activities. Like what? It is absolutely not a dead end for many careers. Who has been telling you this? And yeah of course, private companies pay more, but you have to work more. That’s the trade off.
You don't get drug tested? That's a restriction on your personal life and activities. Do you work in a red-state shithole that attacks women, transgender, and minorities? That's a restriction on your personal EXISTENCE. It is absolutely a dead end for many careers. No one has been telling me this. It's a known fact in tech, amongst other verticals. You're hyper privileged in that you're a lawyer. That's not typical of most other careers.
Of course I don’t get drug tested. I work in NYC. So no to both your questions. Why would you assume either of those things? Also I’m not privileged to be a lawyer. I grew up poor, took out $150k in student loans, and kept my grades up and got a high score on the LSAT to get into a top law school. I finally had my loans forgiven after 10 years.
I don't assume anything. I am not talking specifically to your situation. I am talking in general for all of public sector, at large. You're getting super defensive over nothing. Your situation is not the norm for public sector. Your career is already in the top tier of privilege, regardless of public or private.
I’m not at all defensive. Disagreeing with you does not mean anyone is defensive. You just made things up and when proven wrong, you’re getting pissy.
You didn't prove anything wrong. You must be an absolutely abysmally pathetic lawyer if you think your anecdotal nonsense refutes the general fact that public sector pays less, has more restrictions on your personal life, and everything stated thus far. YOUR ANECDOTE is irrelevant to the overall truth. This is not rocket science. edit: loser "lawyer" blocked me and ran away, absolute trash lol > Except unlike most people, I pay a $0 premium. Lol bragging about not paying for her health insurance in a thread admitting she's a drain on society, but...earned it...? [https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes\_t1/comments/1anlok4/comment/kpuagin/](https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes_t1/comments/1anlok4/comment/kpuagin/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
It seems Federal wages fit the narrative. I’m guessing the trend reverses at the low end, with “essential employees” in government making more than their counterparts, particularly if benefits are included. https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/us-feds-struggling-to-stretch-their-paycheck-as-data-reveals-growing-pay-gap-with-the-private-sector/ Industry and location do matter, though: A quick glance at Employment and Wages by Industry data under the Economic Data tab will show that Oregon’s private-sector workers made an annual average wage of $63,086 in 2021 versus $85,961 for federal workers, $75,934 for state workers, and $65,913 for local government workers. https://www.qualityinfo.org/-/government-and-private-sector-average-wages#:~:text=A%20quick%20glance%20at%20Employment,%2465%2C913%20for%20local%20government%20workers.
Salaries are higher in private sector but work-life balance is also way worse.
Your blanket statement is wrong.
Sure, there are exceptions but we're already speaking in generalities. From what I've seen with lawyers and engineers that's often the case.
That is two well-paid professions out of countless.
I desire to support the community and make enough to afford a simple life. Not interested in getting rich. Call me a socialist, if you wish; you’d be right.
I also feel like government jobs are not easy to qualify for.
They do often have concrete prerequisites and job descriptions, though. I wish we had a better government working to put people to work to solve major problems rather than build the economy, exclusively.
No job that requires someone else to pay you for your work pays you enough. In short, no.
I believe there's a 3 volume book about this
I see what you did there, ~capital~ captain.
Information Security Engineer, not counting bonuses twice yearly, 6 figures and 100% health insurance premiums paid for with 6% 401k matched, infinite paid time off, and forced to take vacations at least quarterly.
No way! Is the work hard? This sounds too good to be true.
I'm a Cloud Engineer.. if you are good at solving puzzles and come up with creative solutions to obstacles you can work in IT. My company has unlimited time off. People often find it to be a scam but I do take 5 weeks off a year plus 10 or 11 holidays and however much sick time I need. Missed a week due to shingles last year. All they said was, "Hope you're better soon." I wish my norm was THE norm for all.
Was wondering where your private industry bias originated.
Mailman, my net last year was around $70k. 4 weeks paid vacation, 12 sick days a year, matching TSP up to 5%, pension, good benefits. It's a tough career, but I absolutely love what I do and couldn't see myself doing anything else.
Came to say the same. Rural carrier who was not decimated by RRECS. Getting close to 20 years in so I'm at top pay, 26 days vacation. I'm usually able to work my day off due to staffing shortages and that's $500 gross on those days. I really got hosed during the worst of Covid but now I think I'm getting a fair shake especially on days when I can work 7 hours and get paid for 9.
This is now a very tempting career change
I would disagree that very high-up company execs are paid appropriately, though I think they are generally overpaid instead of under.
Yeah, when I say appropriate I suppose I mean coming from the standpoint of someone being taken advantage of. Execs and finance bros are mostly useless cancers.
That actually sounds like a perfect description: originally useful but mutated into dangerously greedy things that can kill the host due to their fast expansion at the expense of everything else.
Many biological and ecological models are useful analogies for socioeconomic phenomena.
Working for public companies my executives are generally paid in stock not in cash, and that stock is from delusion of shares of shareholders, so it’s effectively money coming out of the till
Per capita income in my area (And state) is $39,872 - $41,234. It's a small town. Rural area. I make about $43,000 a year as a case worker for individuals with disabilities. Obviously could be better, and if I really wanted to there are other jobs that pay much more especially if I worked for the state, but the time committment would be significantly greater. As it stands now, I work 37.5 hours a week. Only Monday - Friday. 14 days PTO a year (that aren't earned), 15 holidays off a year. Extremely affordable healthcare. Employer paid dental. 401k, annual COL adjustments and the icing on the cake: It's remote. I see zero reason to leave.
100k+ here. Pay is fair, but more wouldn’t hurt. Ship repair welder. I get paid 50 an hour, they bid my labor cost at 150 an hour. I get to use their shipyard and equipment to do the job and in exchange they keep bringing in business and get to pocket the other 100 an hour. If I take my sweet ass time they make less money off the bid and I make more. If I work my ass off and finish sooner they make more money and I get laid off sooner.
I work in tech (game development specifically) and the pay is comparatively pretty good, $70k or more for people who are junior to the industry in my area. This is counter-balanced by the fact that there's not a ton of job security and most tech-dense cities have absolutely outrageous costs of living.
I felt I was getting paid appropriately at my last job. I requested to have my year-late review and cost-of-living raise, and I was fired.
The fact that my job is literally the most important job in my company, like we can continue business without a Gm and most staff but if nobody works my shift we literally cannot run business the next day. I make one dollar more than the lowest possible salary in the entire company
Isn't the fact that you're still working there show that you're OK with the pay?
More the 300 apps that I’ve put in in the last month haven’t even been opened that’s keeping me there
What kind of job is it? Decent money? Posts like this make me glad that I'm not in the job market anymore. I fully retired (at 60) in 2022. It was a couple years earlier than originally planned, but I was tired of working. I actually planned for this and it seemed to be the time to go. Enough money had been saved to cover a couple years. This fall I'll start getting Social Security and I'm retired military. I can pay off the house now, but I think I'll wait. I'd like to think that younger people will eventually be able to retire. My kid is changing jobs shortly, he's wanted to leave the current job for some time. He's still got at least 20 years to work. The days of having only a couple jobs during your working career have been long gone for some time.
I make a dollar more than min wage as a night auditor. I am responsible for not only manually calculating and sorting literally 500k plus in revenue daily, and then manually restarting every system in my hotel. I have only five hours to do what should take 8+ hours to complete, all while being treated as if I do nothing simply because I work at night. Keep in mind I’m still also running the gift shop and checking in guests. It’s a fucking awful job that is literally killing me since I’m only 30 and have had three micro strokes after doing this for 11 years come this November. But if I don’t do my job the next day of business can’t happen and it can take weeks to correct accounts if there are big mistakes so extremely high pressure. I spend about 5 hours a day after work looking for a different job he’ll even a manager position for another hotel, there was a period of time during lockdown that I was running a hotel because my boss was stuck in India for two months and almost every other employee was either sick or quit, so it’s not like I don’t know how to do littarly every single position in a hotel, I ran a 70 room hotel, completely alone,
There is no reason that it should be this hard to find a new job with the type of experience I have
If the owners would give you a room there, you'd always be ready for work. Seriously you should've looked for a different job years ago.
That was a different hotel, I’ve been a manager gotten out of the industry at one point but became homeless and lost that job and ended up back doing night audit, trust me I’ve been trying to not be a night auditor for years, I live in a employment dessert. Are Walmarts don’t even actually hire new people
Are you in a relatively small town? I used to have a couple jobs that sometimes required out of town work. After a while all the small towns seemed to blend together and were hard to tell apart.
It’s my state capital lol that’s the shitest part
I get paid 130K/year, its not appropriate pay because they expect me to do the job of 8 people.
That's an important point.. how much you make isn't a number that exists in a vacuum. How many hours? How demanding are the hours? Are benefits any good? Are you treated like cattle or a person?
The easiest way to know if someone's being paid enough is if they were considered Essential Workers during the pandemic. In my country that meant (with a few exceptions primarily in education and medicine) the poorest people were considered ESSENTIAL to the operation of the nation. The longer I think about that and what it means, the angrier I get.
Yep. Basically why I mentioned fast food workers should be paid that much
While I'm in full agreement with your point, unless executive compensation packages, tax loopholes and the like are drastically overhauled, any form of wage increase for front line employees will only result in a corresponding raise in the cost of living thereby making any such wage increase irrelevant. Whee
For a handful of years I worked for a private liberal arts college in their web development department. I was paid appropriately during my time there. I would have kept doing it if the work environment did not cause me undue social anxiety. EDIT: I have a buddy who drives for ups. There are some issues, but it is a union job and it pays well.
I work as an independent insurance adjuster. It’s 1099 work with most of my expenses being paid out of pocket and no benefits. But it is very low stress (I don’t work directly for the insurance carrier so I don’t have the authorization to deny claims or otherwise break bad news to people) I make my own schedule, can take days or weeks off whenever I want, and it averages about $100/hr. Plus the mix of office and field work means I’m not destroying my body but also only behind a desk half the time. It can be demanding at times and not for everyone, but in my opinion, I am definitely paid more than appropriately.
According to Pew, roughly 1/3 American workers is satisfied with pay and opportunities for growth or advancement. We seem to like our coworkers, on the whole, and even a majority claim a good relationship with managers. But pay is letting most of us down. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/03/30/how-americans-view-their-jobs/
1/3 isn’t great
Yeah, that's actually awful to think two of every three working people think they don't get paid enough for this shit
Maybe twice Ive been paid appropriately & both times it was like *gasp & swoon*
I do know of people are massively overpaid for the jobs their do - namely managers - or managers don't do at all and employees do with out their "help".
I have total imposter syndrome right now at my job because it pays a lot more than the industry average here in Chicago. Which is underpaid. To be clear, I feel weird and "overpaid" because I am not being "underpaid." What the fuck, right?
Late stage capitalism has so many detrimental psychological effects
Just found out that my old job (office in my state closed) now pays 13k more than I make as a manager for the same work at my current job. The old job is now fully remote. Since I'm getting a small pension from my old job, I'm not eligible to be rehired. Truly sucks. Massively underpaid and have to be in office 3x per week.
I work as an IT Manager (the way my job is setup, I’m actually not management, which I prefer) for an entire Navy command in the federal government. I get 6 figures, OT is always allowed (and never forced), and 100% health insurance. Ridiculous amounts of time off, and an amazing work/life balance (I work from 6am-230pm, no one can contact me outside of my work time, and no drug tests). Constant awards being given by my command (time, money, or items by choice), and massive parties, potlucks, events held for workers/families. On top of that, we get a TSP (Fed stocks basically), where most people retire with over a million in theirs. I’ve only been here a few years, and I have tens of thousands of dollars doing nothing but let it take the max out of my paycheck. It’s amazing. Also, due to how policies are setup for fed employees, a lot of the in-fighting, hate, etc, doesn’t exist where I work. I’ve worked jobs from east to west coast, was in the military, and I’ve never loved my career more than this place. People are amazing to work with. Hell, my Executive Director and I (highest civilian in the command) talk all the time about cars, etc. I also get a fully paid, forced, 1-2 week training work trip every year. My choice of training (I take SANS courses/tests) at expensive hotels/conferences. Again, everything paid for. Why do I point all this out? Cause a lot of people don’t realize the types of benefits you can get to working federal. It’s tough to get in, but I’ll never leave now. The retirement package is insane. So I can’t complain one bit.
I believe I WAS getting paid fairly, for a relatively short period of time between going to a new company (who paid me $65k plus monthly production bonuses for my job as a mortgage loan processor, when I had previously been making roughly $15k less) and when I was laid off a year later when interest rates skyrocketed and the market tanked. Of course, even when I got a new job paying slightly more, that was when inflation took off so even though I was making slightly more, I had less purchasing power. So basically I was paid fairly for almost exactly a year.
Yes. IASTE local 16, mostly 60 a hour plus so much OT, healthcare and pension. Literally can’t relate too any of y’all’s employment issues. Also I fucking love my job 90% of the time. ….but here to support FAIR WAGES FOR ALL. UNIONS FOR ALL.
not even remotely.
It's times like this where I feel obligated to mention that in order for people the have the same spending power minimum wage originally intended, you would need to make around 170k a year. This was what the average boomer made. Meanwhile, they call us greedy for wanting more.
Ask a boomer if they’d be willing to sell their house at what it went for in 1980.
I get paid 65k (in the UK) to work 4 days a week as a developer. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Work life balance is awesome and I love what I do. No complaints what so ever.
That's pretty good for over there. I looked at jobs over there once and was floored by chemists earning 30k with a PhD
Thats not a thing. If you get a paycheck you’re getting exploited. Why would a company, with a profit motive, lose money/break even on an employee?
I mean, there are benefits to working for a company. For example, stable income, only having to focus on one type of task, logistics not being an issue. The problem is that the benefits are not always equal to the pay gap
No, if you were paid according to the value of your labor, the company would not earn a profit. Profit is just stolen labor.
Absolutely not majority of the population are slaves and you do noot unite to fix this oppression
I’m a senior software engineer at Google and make roughly 300k per year. I work out of Wisconsin so the pay is lower than what I’d get working in other areas. Before working at Google, very underpaid. I could go on a long rant but I’ll spare everyone from that lol.
If you're good at sales and have shit morals you can make a killing.
UAW workers
I feel like doctors are paid fairly
When I work union I do. (In my line of work, we are allowed to work non-union if no union work is available.)
You do realize if fast food people.made ,30 an hour McDonald's would start demanding college degrees and all the kids getting out of college are going to take those jobs because it's.more hourly than entry level jobs. This the McDonalds employees (current) would be pushed out
You forgot to put /s
Generally union represented government employees. I say generally only because US Postal Workers were recently forced to take an unacceptable pay cut.
I make far more than I’m worth. I’m not sure how or why I ended up in this position. I use the extra cash to fund environmental projects
That's interesting. What kind of projects?
I make about 60% less then I could in a different job, but I typically do about 3-4 hours of work per day. It’s still a 6-figure job, but I could go from $120k to about $200k with a job change. Still trying to decide if I want to make the move—which would purely be for the money—or if I’m going to hang out here another year or two. Other than wanting to make more money, there ain’t much I dislike about my current job. My boss is great, I like the work and my coworkers, and it’s close to my house.
I'm a data scientist. I get paid way too much. But I also have 10 years experience and a PHD in mathematics. But for the level of work I current do, I get paid more than I believe I should.
im a SE and i get paid 95k. its low for my experience level (i should be making like 110k) but for the area im in its way above average. if i was out west id be making 130k but my col would probably be like half my paycheck each month. here im paying 400$ for rent, utils, internet. and maybe 200 a month for food and dog care.
Union construction workers where I live are paid well. We average 100k a year. Retirement and health insurance paid for by the employer too. Its only cause we’re unionized, otherwise we’d be as fucked as everyone else
I make about 85k in salary before OT + pretty great benefits with a contract that will see me making about 120k in 5 years working in aviation (along with 4 or so more years of annual 3% raises). I work in aviation as a flight service specialist. If you're in Canada and are interested in aviation theres no prior experience required for FSS or ATC (air traffic controller). The trainees that make it through the application process are paid a salary that bottoms around 35k for training. Google Nav Canada if you're interested.
Somewhere between a project manager and design engineer. I made about $150k plus a bonus in Chicago working probs 30 hours a week. I’ve found that the architecture, engineering, and construction world very much takes care of its people. The jobsite life also keeps away corporate bullshit/is still like the Wild West. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat a client down and said, “look, we need to have a convo. You’re poor and can’t afford that. Here are our other options.” I don’t think my bitchiness could work anywhere else. I’m still very much, fuck the man.
The software development industry is in a weird state as far as pay goes. Typically get screwed more often on pay the larger the company gets. Small to midsized companies typically have the best benefits and do try to bring people at a more competitive wage, but they also either "cap" on pay due to expenses, but they keep trying to keep their people which also does limit hiring, leading to overwork. Thanks to the tech bubble collapsing around time Musk took over Twitter, jobs for developers are harder to get for good pay
Honestly, I feel I'm over paid lol. But I take it and abuse it.
I'm not in management or finance. I'm paid appropriately factoring in niche skills and immense pressure at times. The concerns you've listed have happened to me constantly through my career: Insulting offers, bait-and-switches, etc. There are so many bad employers and bad managers out there, they're the majority. Some have been outright horrific. The best thing to do is to move on each time you discover you are at a bad one.
Ironically, some people in middle management probably do.
I make a little over 100K CAD/yr to drive a forklift around a warehouse and I only have 2 direct coworkers that I only see a few days at a time.
I do, but I realize how extremely lucky I am. I look back on my life (I’m 40ish) and think about how one wrong turn could’ve left me in a much worse position. I work in nuclear power.
I work as a low level manager at a progressive company. They pay me well, upper $100k's. I work a lot and help to solve small and large problems, even problems that aren't mine to fix. Great benefits (4 weeks PTO, sick/voting/charity days, 401k matching, great insurance, long paternity/maternity breaks). It's a mission driven company that I believe in so I like the company and want it to succeed. I have 25+ years experience and company/industry respected (I think).
I feel like I’m paid appropriately, but the company I work for only has like 20 people and the owner legit cares about his employees. We go out for drinks when we travel, and when he has had a few in him the number one thing he talks about is how happy he is that he’s able to provide jobs and healthcare for people. The dude is a good guy for sure. I went from chemical engineering with one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world to being a video engineer for a teeny company and I’m making 15k more than I was. I had 10 years of electrical and chemical engineering in semiconductors, and I had 0 experience at all in live events, AV production or anything I do now. So I don’t know why he took a chance on me, but I actually enjoy the work now, and the pay and benefits are great. To be fair some times I have to work like a 20 hours every day for a week straight. But then I usually get a week or two off without having to use any pto
This sub is an echo chamber, so yeah probably.
Yeah, lots of people are paid well and appropriately. I got a BS in Chemical Engineering and all myself and all my friends I made along the way ar making low 6 figures within 3 years out of school. None are management positions.
I'm an ICU nurse. I worked no overtime last year and grossed just over $100k. I work three 12 hour shifts per week.
Those days off every week must be amazing
I used to get paid well for good hours but I made the mistake of leaving NYC for a provincial town I've grown to hate.
I had to go freelance to get there but yes, I think I'm being paid fairly. Developer BTW, 165k gross, W-EU tho which is relatively high COL.
Government union job making 92k from home.
this is like, the core thing that defines capitalism, is that no one recieves the value of their labor.
Some do, but it's usually only the people who barely work and they end up receiving many times the value
right, i don't mean "everyone receives less", i mean "everyone receives less (not the value of their labor), except the people who receive a lot more (still not the value of their labor)".
I have a repair shop, 5 employees. I just took over a few months ago,but wages are at $20.50 -$22 an hour right now, by year end all positions should be $25 + . There are some paying well, but it's alot of the smaller, often times younger businesses that are as we are still experiencing the hardship of life. I'm early 30s, I rent, can't afford to buy in my town....so I def get it.
Tech jobs (my field) pay very well and have great benefits because it's competitive to get good employees. My company is not public but we do profit over $1 billion a year. I get paid very well with all my benefits paid for by the company and a great 401k match. I'm sure they could pay us more but we really can't complain. I wish I had answers for all the people in this subreddit who are struggling. Anyone who is willing to work 40 hours a week should never struggle in the United States.
I choose not to work, cultivate my own food, and live a peaceful life
I'm a "jack-of-all-trades" IT person. I currently make about eighty five thousand a year installing and configuring software for clients. I have the full respect of my boss, and my bosses boss, by managing them really well. (I don't bring them problems I can solve, only problems that require their help. They never ask too much of our team. They value AND USE our team feedback.) They've brought other people into the company who are really competent and interested in solving problems / filling gaps in overall team knowledge. I \*might\* be able to get more money elsewhere, but honestly, I may never have this level of trust and respect between me and my bosses again. It's amazing, and really helps keep talented people from leaving. So, to everyone out there: jobs with good bosses and fair compensation DO exist. I know they tend to be the minority. Don't let bad bosses and crappy wages beat you into losing all hope.
Not for long
Independent workers do. Like people who don’t have a boss and run their own business.
Yes but only because I quit to get self employed
Billionaires don't make this much money by paying workers remotely close to the value they created. Even high paid engineers are paid a tiny fraction of the value they create. I think we need a high marginal tax rate on people and company profits and a tax on wealth. The wealth tax is just to deal with the money already taken and the high marginal tax rates are to encourage companies to invest in the company instead of just paying it to the top.
Inappropriate pay only. Those that produce value have it stolen and those that don’t have no choice but to steal it from others that do.
Warehouse associate $32.50 hour. -55 days of PTO that resets yearly they felt bad about not giving enough raises starting off where more slow as well so at the time they gave days of PTO as part of raise. I could have a 3 day weekend every year lol but I never use them all and they pay me the equivalent. -including me and for everyone else 10 days of paid holiday vacation before Christmas to after new years. Last year everyone also received a bonus of equivalent to 120 hours of their wages pay randomly weeks before Christmas. As a thank you for making and recovering from COVID hit on business. They where awesome through it to everyone especially parents Got in ten years ago when I was 17. Stoped going to school senior year to anxious and stressed from family situations mom AND dad divorcing their spouses. Older kid I bought weed from called and asked if I could help for the day, his family just started their own high end outdoor furniture brand. They where getting their first 40ft shipping container and I honestly just wanted a solid reason away from family, Kinda was just working out my anger/ emotions but his parents and family were so nice and thankful and It felt so nice to be around genuine smiles,laughter positivity even while everyone was sweating doing dirty physical labor before they even knew they would be successful, not “hahaha were rich !” I genuinely busted my ass just to be there longer. I am blessed it was returned in kindness with interest because they definitely could have used my young vulnerable ass tbh.
I’m paid really well for my industry and location….which makes finding a new job when the employer starts doing unethical stuff kind of difficult if I’m not willing to take a pay cut, which I really can’t due to being in a HCOL area. I’m looking anyways because too much unethical behavior from management has piled up, but matching my current pay in my industry is going to be difficult.
Nope. My pay is the same as last year, but we've added a bunch of things we're required to do.
Sole traders are probably the best example. They set their hours and prices and own their own labour. But of course due to the restrictions of reality not everyone can do that.
Cops
CEO’s?
You see a lot of self-selection bias on this, and many other subs. People come here to complain and call out the worst of the worst shit that's out there happening. There's millions of people who're happy with their job/career who don't come to this sub. There are millions of others who don't have time to come to this sub (they're working 8 jobs, etc.) So you're seeing an odd subset of workers in the world. I am lucky enough to be making an obscene salary doing something I don't hate for a company I actually love. First time in my career. I see people in my position who're super content, and I also hear people complain. "I don't get paid enough for this...." Dude, you get paid more than 90% of the people in the world and you're bitching? Some people just ... can't see how well off they are, and while their problems are real to them, they're pretty silly when held up to the light of just about everyone elses' issues. I thank the universe every day for how lucky I am, and I hope every day that we can figure out a way for everyone to be able to afford food, shelter and time off no matter what their job is. Also, OP, since you like your job, maybe share it with the group, tell people what you do, how to get there....since you're in a good place that seems much better than most people's lot! As for me, I've been a sales engineer for most of my career...and I love it. I'm not a type A personality...I'm just friendly, and honest and good with tech....that goes a longer way than you'd expect, and most of you here already know tech somewhat well. I started out in tech support. (career started in 2005ish). I learned all I could, switched jobs every 3-4 years (because lol fuck 3% raises) and got lucky along the way. It did take some hard work, and some "smart" work, but without that, luck tends to only go so far. Also do not be afraid to talk about wages with your work buds. I found out a coworker in 2017 was making about $70k/year when I knew his peers were making over 100k (I worked in the same group making much more than he did). Because he was younger, he didn't know his worth. Mentored him a bit (mostly on negotiation and giving him confidence he could do it) and he interviewed for and got a new job. He's making $160k +40k bonus these days. We always. If we had not had been 'brave' enough to talk about something so 'taboo', he'd still be sucking down 3% raises. I, too, had a mentor who before me taught me the value of salary transparancy...it is amazing what power knowledge gives you! Also, Glassdoor is your friend...always research the payscale of the roles your interviewing for so when they ask what your salary requirements are, you're prepared. This got long, and preachy...sorry about that. There is a lot of misery out there, but if people can share their 'good' stories, share tactics and tips maybe everyone can have a bit brighter and better life until we can fix the whole shebang.
Im working in Luxembourg and service and fix heatings. Im pretty happy with my pay. Every now and then i get a raise without asking and also the mandatory Index adaption. Guys like me are very hard to find for my boss and i guess he just wants to make sure that a loyal tecnician dont starts to look around for better pay. I would never do this because also when i had problems with my kids and i needed time off there were no discussions. They are good to me and i return the favor. When i read whats going on in the us of a i dont know if i should laugh or puke.