Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Because a lot of people are still making 2019 wages, which for many were considered inadequate then. In my profession, the entire enterprise has been priced out and now we have almost an existential crisis facing us. The death spiral of people retiring early, leaving the profession, and not taking job offers is now combining with young people choosing not to pursue the career, understandably because of inadequate wages relative to education cost necessary to do the job, and housing cost necessary to live where the jobs are.
Those of us in the mid range of our career are left with the squeeze of doing extra work for no extra wages. And we may very well be the ones to turn the lights out.
The employer/public seem absolutely determined NOT to raise wages relative to inflation, so I don't know what will happen.
That's a good point.
I used to work for a large regional hospital system - ~17,000 employees. IT was about 400 people when I left. Level 1 IT analyst (these were people over applications - not support folks) pay remains at $45k-$47k. These people are salaried, generally work over forty hours per week, and have on-call support. When I left, I gave a level 1 guy making $47k full admin responsibility over software that was used to alert on-call physicians - this could be a matter of life and death.
One of my former colleagues recently got promoted from 1 to 2. He's making $51k. That's less than the $58k I was hired in at as an L2 back in 2016. Payscales, at least below first line manager, haven't changed.
The cost of living certainly has. Still, the place wonders why key people leave left and right.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,694 posts, read 58,012,579 times
Reputation: 46171
Quote:
. The student cohorts' capabilities have dropped significantly more than any 2-3 period any of us have ever seen.
And we continue to demand employers pay more, for less capable and willing workers... And train them also!
BTDT.
Fortunately, there a were countries who did not cripple their educational output during covid. We can hire, or move our companies elsewhere if the USA cannot cope with figuring how to educate to a level of value. Also there is access to many other ways to learn than the USA edu system. Open your eyes and minds and move forward.
And we continue to demand employers pay more, for less capable and willing workers... And train them also!
BTDT. Fortunately, there a were countries who did not cripple their educational output during covid. We can hire, or move our companies elsewhere if the USA cannot cope with figuring how to educate to a level of value. Also there is access to many other ways to learn than the USA edu system. Open your eyes and minds and move forward.
Which countries were those? I submit that while the effects of Covid 19 were hard on our educational system that they were fairly evenly distributed among countries. It may have been even worse among some than in the USA.
I used to work for a large regional hospital system - ~17,000 employees. IT was about 400 people when I left. Level 1 IT analyst (these were people over applications - not support folks) pay remains at $45k-$47k. These people are salaried, generally work over forty hours per week, and have on-call support. When I left, I gave a level 1 guy making $47k full admin responsibility over software that was used to alert on-call physicians - this could be a matter of life and death.
One of my former colleagues recently got promoted from 1 to 2. He's making $51k. That's less than the $58k I was hired in at as an L2 back in 2016. Payscales, at least below first line manager, haven't changed.
The cost of living certainly has. Still, the place wonders why key people leave left and right.
When I consider how expensive health care is I'm shocked they cannot pay IT people better. Where is the money going?
I'm shocked they cannot pay (many other trade and profession) people better. Where is the money going?
The medical industrial complex is NOT about efficient delivery of care.
I'm rather sure that my Dentist's practice does better for him financially than my Physician's office.
Note: I never leave the dentist without a bill (usually paid on the spot). Think it relates?
Well, yes, if you take all the stimulus and "keep everything afloat" efforts, it did absolutely contribute to where we are.
But those ~$2,000 checks or so for people earning under $100k annually are long gone.
For the better part of a year, I've read economists saying "soon, the savings from those stimulus checks will be depleted" or words to that effect. But like Godot, it never seems to come.
But recognize it isn't merely the stimulus checks themselves. The eviction moratorium at the Federal and in some cases State and even in a handful of cities (e.g., Los Angeles) Municipal levels had a massive transfer effect - some people & families lived rent-free for 3 years at ~$3 or $4,000 per month savings. We're talking mid-$30,000 to $40,000 those families banked (if they were smart) in high COL locations. THOSE savings have not yet been depleted, according to various financial institution economists. But soon will be, they say, and have said for at least a year.
Because a lot of people are still making 2019 wages, which for many were considered inadequate then. In my profession, the entire enterprise has been priced out and now we have almost an existential crisis facing us. The death spiral of people retiring early, leaving the profession, and not taking job offers is now combining with young people choosing not to pursue the career, understandably because of inadequate wages relative to education cost necessary to do the job, and housing cost necessary to live where the jobs are.
There's an old saying that any trend that cannot go on forever - won't go on forever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by redguard57
The employer/public seem absolutely determined NOT to raise wages relative to inflation, so I don't know what will happen.
That seems to vary by location. Locally, cash compensation for state, municipal & other public sector employees goes up by strong double-digit percentages.
Moreover, you ignore increases paid on your behalf by the taxpaying public for your higher health insurance premiums and defined benefit pension contributions, among other pieces of non-cash compensation that are part of total compensation. Each year health insurance premiums go up double-digit percentages with your personal contribution not going up at all, or perhaps a low single digit percentage.
The Total Compensation you see goes up. Granted, you cannot pay a mortgage from Total Compensation, only from what's left from its subset of Cash Compensation.
At the end of the day, as you point out, it is an existential issue, and of course trends that cannot go on forever will reverse. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon.
It is estimated that vaccination, masking, and isolating saved as many as 3,000,000 lives in this country. I believe there is no question it was worth it.
The number of lives, by itself, is of course irrelevant here in the Economics forum.
The correct analysis also incorporates the value of a statistical life and the return on the expenditure (investment). Saving a life from Covid-induced death that will go on to die one month later because that person has terminal cancer has a different ROI than saving the life of a 20-something engineer who will contribute to GDP for the coming 45 years.
I'm in education... and I can guarantee you, you WILL feel the economic effects of the 2-year learning loss as this generation phases through the system. It's bad, man. The student cohorts' capabilities have dropped significantly more than any 2-3 period any of us have ever seen.
I've read of trends in some states to hold 3rd grade student behind who do not have reading proficiency. It has been a shock to parents - "whaddaya mean Johnnie can't read???". Many parents fight to have their little Johnnie promoted to 4th grade regardless because it would be bad for Johnnie's ego to repeat 3rd grade (not to mention the ego of the parents), and school districts are providing many "outs" including summer school and customized tutoring to give Johnnie the best chance at improving such that come September Johnnie can go forward to the 4th grade with his social peers.
When I consider how expensive health care is I'm shocked they cannot pay IT people better. Where is the money going?
That has been a question for at least 4 decades that I know of among health care economists. The price we consumers pay for health insurance and health care reliably goes up ~2x the rate of inflation. Where does the money go? Careful bottoms-up financial analysis indicates this money does not show up in the paychecks of health care delivery employees, nor supervisors, managers, and directors. Yes, many make a good loving, but they don't get rich - no private jets or McLaren hypercars. Instead, it shows up in the number of non-clinical employees on the payroll, and in particular administrative virtual paper pushers required to interact with insurance companies and governmental regulators - most recently large health care entities have hired consultants merely to estimate the effects of global warming on their operations and to report on carbon footprints, just as an example. While such reporting does provide government regulators with data, it comes at a cost, which cost is of course borne by you and me.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
