Bye Bye Boosted Unemployment Benefits

a reply to: JAGStorm

Just my random thoughts. Not necessarily being contrary to yours!

In my town - of about 70,000 people.....
They cannot find anyone to work the retail businesses here, which includes the fast food places.
So, for example, Chic-Fil-A, which continually has long lines all day long every day, is offering $17 an hour to start with zero experience. Part time or full time.
The McDonalds (we have 2, owned by the same person) is offering $18 to start.
The grocery stores here (a Kroger brand) offers really good wages too and other benefits.

With those increased wages, the food prices have gone up a lot. A LOT.
With those increased wages, the actual quality of service has not gone up at all.
You would think if they were going to pay more, they would either train better or get better quality people, right?
Nope.
So, what is the consumer getting in exchange for these higher prices? Absolutely nothing. Soon, the consumer will stop spending money at these places that are luxuries and not necessities. Then the businesses will go under and people will be unemployed all over again. It is just not sustainable.

Unless, every single sector of the workforce starts raising salaries........and how do we get every business to get on board with that? There are just too many factors involved to make it happen.

Then there is the reality that not everyone deserves a pay raise. Especially fast food workers. That is not meant to be a living wage. And soon, AI will take over those jobs anyways.........so low skilled workers better find some actual skills.

I think businesses should be allowed to set salaries for what they believe an employee is worth and an employee should be able to negotiate their worth. I always have.

As for teachers....I think a lot of teachers arent worth the salaries they get now....and should not be paid more. I can say that as a parent to a Sr who has been battling marxist ideology for years now...even this past week. I find most teachers to be narcissists with Godlike complexes. Not all, but an awful lot. I know you were just using those as examples...and I am probably just using it as a rant after a bad week of dealing with #ty teachers. lol

With all that said...Im not a business person...I dont own one/never ran one....just my own personal observations.

Cpa reply to: Chalcedony

Yea i worked retail for awhile years ago. Id show up on time, learned all the skills of the job (including most management), and even worked overnights when the unreliable people didn't show up.

Yet, after three years of that, they could only offer me $2 above minimum wage (even after a promotion).

Ill never go back to retail.

Even many semi professional entry level jobs make low wages. Just enough to pay rent.

Being a great employee means nothing to most companies.

a reply to: Ahabstar

On a side note, how many businesses paid their employees more to be forced to wear masks all day? And then demanded harder work because of other employees quitting.

I don't blame people for going on unemployment if they work low pay jobs.

a reply to: CptGreenTea

How about the work from home deals? Piled higher and deeper because “you didn’t have to drive to and from work”

Free needs to be over.

Too many people sucking at the government tit.

Time to go back to work.

No, low paying jobs should not see an increase in pay.
The skills needed are entry level and damn near anyone can do it. Upward mobility in these jobs likewise does not exist for the same reason. These are supplemental paying jobs at best. Always were and always will be.

Learn new skills. Blue collar jobs are in high demand and at well. Get past the idea that you need to go to college as well. Continued learning comes in many forms.

Everyone gets to pay their dues. You don’t get to start at the top. We require hard work out of you in order to succeed. Nothing given to you for free has value.

a reply to: wdkirk

No, low paying jobs should not see an increase in pay. The skills needed are entry level and damn near anyone can do it. Upward mobility in these jobs likewise does not exist for the same reason. These are supplemental paying jobs at best. Always were and always will be.

You glossed over exactly what I was saying.

No these were not always supplemental jobs. I know because I am old enough to remember. My uncle was a janitor. He was able to buy a house with some land. Even had a little pool on a janitors pay. Tell me you can do that today. You can’t.
There were lot’s of jobs like that before. Now even if you have two of those jobs, you probably still won’t have enough for the most basic rent in most areas.

The problem is tptb have brainwashed everyone into attacking the lowest people on the rung to feel better about themselves that they forget to look at themselves, and the real target. It’s quite brilliant, divide and conquer.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Economies change. You used to be able to make a living making carriages for people. Now you can't.

Oh, I am sure there are a very, very few specialty shops producing carriages for the limited uses they do still have today, but it's not the big business it was.

Maybe once you could make it as a janitor, but that is not how it still works today.

And I am not looking down on entry level labor. I have done entry level labor myself, but I also decided that I didn't like, wasn't going anywhere with it, and so I learned different skills and worked my way into different jobs that aren't entry level and pay like they aren't.

Well it's up to us consumers to start tipping everyone.

Not just waiters and waitresses.

(That don't even make the food or wash the dishes)

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: JAGStorm

Economies change. You used to be able to make a living making carriages for people. Now you can't.

Oh, I am sure there are a very, very few specialty shops producing carriages for the limited uses they do still have today, but it's not the big business it was.

Maybe once you could make it as a janitor, but that is not how it still works today.

And I am not looking down on entry level labor. I have done entry level labor myself, but I also decided that I didn't like, wasn't going anywhere with it, and so I learned different skills and worked my way into different jobs that aren't entry level and pay like they aren't.

The problem is at least in the US, is the majority of the production base was shipped out of the country in the nineties. Those were the jobs that allowed a majority of Americans to just be able to graduate high school and enter into a career that would allow them to purchase a car, a home, raise and educate their children and even develop a pension and a retirement.

Now we are about forty years in the new tech driven economy and all of those multitude of tech jobs that were promised to replace the lost labor jobs, still have yet to manifest. It doesn't mean that if one works hard, you can't still find a place in the huddle, but for many Americans there is just not enough of those career jobs left to fill. And many of those career jobs require higher education.

The entire economy and labor market was compressed, with the outsourcing of our labor and it is why there is a huge broken divide in the job market, with to many people being relegated to low pay jobs indefinitely.

a reply to: themessengernevermatters

The entire economy and labor market was compressed, with the outsourcing of our labor and it is why there is a huge broken divide in the job market, with to many people being relegated to low pay jobs indefinitely.

Americans used to make steel in this country. Now we make "happy meals"...

It's a service economy...The looming war with China will change all that...

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: wdkirk

No, low paying jobs should not see an increase in pay. The skills needed are entry level and damn near anyone can do it. Upward mobility in these jobs likewise does not exist for the same reason. These are supplemental paying jobs at best. Always were and always will be.

You glossed over exactly what I was saying.

No these were not always supplemental jobs. I know because I am old enough to remember. My uncle was a janitor. He was able to buy a house with some land. Even had a little pool on a janitors pay. Tell me you can do that today. You can’t.
There were lot’s of jobs like that before. Now even if you have two of those jobs, you probably still won’t have enough for the most basic rent in most areas.

The problem is tptb have brainwashed everyone into attacking the lowest people on the rung to feel better about themselves that they forget to look at themselves, and the real target. It’s quite brilliant, divide and conquer.

Cost of living. Don’t live where it is high and your life will be better.

a reply to: themessengernevermatters

Probably shouldn't have voted for President Business in China then. Oh well, I guess we'll continue shipping the production side of things overseas.

originally posted by: CptGreenTea
a reply to: Ahabstar

On a side note, how many businesses paid their employees more to be forced to wear masks all day? And then demanded harder work because of other employees quitting.

I don't blame people for going on unemployment if they work low pay jobs.

You have a good point there!

a reply to: KTemplar

Except it isn't a business's fault if they were forcing employees to mask up. In a lot of places, that blame fell on government.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: KTemplar

Except it isn't a business's fault if they were forcing employees to mask up. In a lot of places, that blame fell on government.

I agree with that, but me personally, got a list of things that needed to be cleaned constantly, and I was already ocd.

I kid you not, the first couple of months on this extra mandatory cleaning I would collapse when I got home from work (after scrub down shower). Now I’m used to it, and can do it very fast. All while handling Fed Ex, phone calls, customers, photos, curbside. Three of which are new added tasks. While person after person quits, or transfers.

The mask doesn’t bother me. My feet do though ☹️