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I've been contemplating a move from NC to NYC for a while now and when I look at office support and/or sales positions, they pay less than I'm getting paid in NC. What incentive is it to live NYC with the same pay as got me struggling in NC?! I thought it would be different in NYC b/c of the higher standard of living. And I've noticed this to be true in all of the boroughs. I think it's laughable to pay >$15 for anything other than burgur-flippin in any of the 5 boroughs. How do people make ends meet on this? Any ideas/thoughts on where the good jobs are would be appreciated.
What do you mean by "office support"? Secretarial, or something else like mailroom, copy center, etc.?
Secretaries can make good money in New York. The top people come close to six-figures. Most legal secretaries make $65k+.
When I worked as a project analyst at an investment bank in Minneapolis I made $35k. It would have been at least double if not triple that in New York.
Really what your really talking about is can the middle class afford NYC. Sadly, that answer is becoming no, and they're sort of being pushed out. There's a report that speaks about this issue, and the problem is, like you said, that people simply cannot afford to live in this city. A while back there was a poster who said that NYC was a city where you either come here and make 200K and buy a condo, or move out. I lambasted him for saying such a thing, but in a way he was right. The city does a great job of attracting so called "young professionals" however, the city seems to be doing a poor job at retaining them. After all, who wants to make 60K a year but live like their earning 30?
Now, as for how you can make enough money to live comfortably, who knows? Many here would say that the financial industry is the way to go, but there isn't an infinite amount of jobs available in that industry, especially now, and its not like everyone who enters the field will become overnight upper management. The city is trying to set up green industry, which will be a high growth industry if Bloomberg has his way, so there's that if your interested. The problem with that industry however is that it will inevitably leave the city. The city isn't exactly business friendly and there have been tons of different industries that either started here or had a large presence but left over time.
Office support can be a low level position. In some offices, this person would be ordering supplies and making sure the pantries are stocked. Obviously, this position would not pay much. As for sales, it depends on what type of sales role are you looking for? What will you be selling? Is it straight commission or base + commission? These are all factors to consider. Also, what kind of salary are you looking for?
Basically it is all supply and demand. We are a VERY big area, so lots of people competing for jobs (yes, it also means lots of jobs too, but the ratio of open jobs to seekers is not too good in this area now). This means that salaries can still be fairly low (though on average I still think they're much more than in NC). Our expenses are due to the fact that there is an enormous amount of people in a very small area (as found almost no where else in America, indeed very few places in the world, maybe Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, Paris, etc.).
You also have a lot of young people excited to come here so they are willing to take jobs that would be unaffordable for a family and when these young people are old enough to have a family either they're promoted high enough that they're salary is affordable, or they move out.
I've been contemplating a move from NC to NYC for a while now and when I look at office support and/or sales positions, they pay less than I'm getting paid in NC. What incentive is it to live NYC with the same pay as got me struggling in NC?! I thought it would be different in NYC b/c of the higher standard of living. And I've noticed this to be true in all of the boroughs. I think it's laughable to pay >$15 for anything other than burgur-flippin in any of the 5 boroughs. How do people make ends meet on this? Any ideas/thoughts on where the good jobs are would be appreciated.
Don't you mean higher COST of living, not standard? Also, don't you mean < than $15 and not > $15 for anything other than a McJob?
The answer is there is no incentive. You don't move to NYC to get an admin job or a McJob and hope for a better standard of living just because you're in New York - in fact it will be the opposite. New York is a competitive place and if you don't have what it takes to measure up against the rest of the people that work their asses off to live here you won't be able to make it. Companies in New York are willing to pay you if you have specialized skills and talents that are rare. It's the simple rule of supply and demand. Pretty much anyone with a 5th grade education can do admin work or flip burgers, so you're not going to get paid well and you're not going to live well either. This place has little sympathy for laziness, you have to go hard.
Don't you mean higher COST of living, not standard? Also, don't you mean < than $15 and not > $15 for anything other than a McJob?
The answer is there is no incentive. You don't move to NYC to get an admin job or a McJob and hope for a better standard of living just because you're in New York - in fact it will be the opposite. New York is a competitive place and if you don't have what it takes to measure up against the rest of the people that work their asses off to live here you won't be able to make it. Companies in New York are willing to pay you if you have specialized skills and talents that are rare. It's the simple rule of supply and demand. Pretty much anyone with a 5th grade education can do admin work or flip burgers, so you're not going to get paid well and you're not going to live well either. This place has little sympathy for laziness, you have to go hard.
I had to respond to this post. Was born and lived in New York City all my life (36 years). Was one of those Admins that you speak of but I am New York University educated with a degree in business. So it takes more then a 5 grade education to be an Admin. I worked for Pfizer Inc. and made $70k + a year there. However home ownership became important to me so I relocated south and by the way took my New York City salary with me to South Carolina. My best advice for anyone looking to make top dollar in New York City. Make sure you have top skills, live with relatives to save most of your salary then head south with the money and get more bang for your buck. New York City has become only for the rich.
I had to respond to this post. Was born and lived in New York City all my life (36 years). Was one of those Admins that you speak of but I am New York University educated with a degree in business. So it takes more then a 5 grade education to be an Admin. I worked for Pfizer Inc. and made $70k + a year there. However home ownership became important to me so I relocated south and by the way took my New York City salary with me to South Carolina. My best advice for anyone looking to make top dollar in New York City. Make sure you have top skills, live with relatives to save most of your salary then head south with the money and get more bang for your buck. New York City has become only for the rich.
Good luck to you all.
Clearly there's different levels of sophistication for admin work. I think she was referring to very basic paper pushing, the type of admin work you get from temp agencies. Legal secretaries are admin assistants but they can make close to six figures in this town. I doubt the president of Goldman Sachs is going to hire someone without a college degree as his admin assistant, but that distinction should be obvious.
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