Why is pay going down in general?

[Spidy]

As converstaion in this thread turned to pay scale got me thinking: http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=71172


Why has pay gone down.While your mid level paying jobs have gone slightly up..Cashiers/Hi-lo drivers and such...Top paying jobs have stagnated or gone down.Good paying jobs in 70's are still considered good paying jobs now, but the pays the same!?While we all know the cost of everything has skyrocketed since then.Inflation affects everything but the payscale of people who are considered on the higher end of things(wages).Then, while we may be making the same "good" money our fathers made.We are hit with outragous insurance premiums, co-pays,taxes and such.While my father lived very, very well on $20/hr 30 years ago.At $20/hr I am struggling just to get by!Then it seems employers that were clawing to get a good employee @ $20/hr even 5 years ago are barely willing to pay $16/hr now?! I just dont get it! Is it that things are so tough guys are willing to work for less? Or are guys working for less to insure job security?

And who truly suffers in the end?! The children seem to be paying the ultimate price for this as mothers are being forced to work to make ends meet.Face it kids are more cocky and well just punks and brats anymore with noone to "raise" them but the TV and the Nintendo.

I am only 30 and see a huge difference from when I was a kid.....Whats its gonna be like when my kids are 30?



"please don't turn this into a thread about what i make or dont make or what i know or dont know, I speaking just in general"

[spotts]

here in this shop. My Top Installer makes 225% more than the OWNERS paid themselves here in 1983.

[framehvac]

So in 1983 the owner only made $3. an hour.

[Spidy]

Originally posted by spotts
here in this shop. My Top Installer makes 225% more than the OWNERS paid themselves here in 1983.

An old boss of mine always told me I made more then him(we were good friends for abit).Even showed me his check to prove it...I told him I would trade weekly checks with him if I could have his Profit check and the end of the year......He smiled and walked away......lol. Also when it was busy/steady I made 2 times what he did, when it was slow I made maybe 1/6 of his...Theres is something to lower, yet consistant pay to.

[superheater]

Dont you mean what the owners claimed to make on taxes.

[alienofwar]

I think the problem has alot to do with sky-rocketing property values, car payments, credit cards, our insaciouble appetite (dont mind the spelling) for material wealth, we got to have large screen TV's, stereos that make you ear drums pop, got to have the nicest car on the block, have to eat out all the time, etc. Then on top of that you have to feed your children and put them through college where tuition is rising at a constant rate.

As a famous hippy once said..."Simplify man, simplify!!"

[gruntly]

Here in Ontario the minimum wage has not been raised in around ten years, while the utility costs in my home (water, gas, elec.) have gone up about 250% in the same time. The price of gas for my truck continues to climb and insurance companies are downright stupid with their excuses for raising my yearly price. greed abounds. They say it's a good life if you're strong. I think I'll go poke a pencil in the hamster cage (eraser end first, of course).

[vmc1161]

Originally posted by Spidy
As converstaion in this thread turned to pay scale got me thinking: http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=71172


I am only 30 and see a huge difference from when I was a kid.....Whats its gonna be like when my kids are 30?

Umm you will be 60 maybe fat or bald or both, do you still have teeth you probably wont by then. Oh and your belt will be above your belly button. Sorry for the bad news but you did ask.


Now on the serious side pay has not quite kept up overall, but for the better and more motivated tech's it is as good or better. We do alot more then parents had to in say the 50's or 60's,vacations,schools,sports camps,vehicles,homes, and entertainment. So our lifes have different stresses and some of the same. But overall we have a lot to be thankful for, what a great country.

[coolwhip]

I hear you spidy. That is one of the reasons I dont watch TV. I dont want to be smothered on a daily basis by material objects and made to feel inadaquit when I cant afford them. I do think the cost of living is higher and pay scales have not kept up. I keep invisioning someone like Mr Burns counting money and making fun of the little people. Elizabeth Taylor said that taxes are for the little people. I try not to think about money, just family, freinds, music, hobbies. My 2 cents.

[mike3]

In 1960 i started with my company as a meter reader at $94.00 a week (gross) In 1966 went into the service dept at I think around $120 a week and bought a house (1965). Seems like things were a lot less complicated.

[snewman24]

[i] Elizabeth Taylor said that taxes are for the little people. [/B]

Actually, to be fair, it was Leona Helmsley who said that.

[MadeinUSA]

Originally posted by gruntly
Here in Ontario the minimum wage has not been raised in around ten years, while the utility costs in my home (water, gas, elec.) have gone up about 250% in the same time.

The minimum wage is not suppose to support a family and make house payments, car notes, etc.

An adult is suppose to get trained in a "profession" to support them selves.

[duc dowg]

because Jose works cheaper...