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Employers will do almost anything to find workers except pay them more

latimes.com

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Re: Employers will do almost anything to find workers except pay them more

#381

Post by beagle3 »

morsma wrote: post #363
beagle3 wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I made $100K in NYC I would have likely had the same $75k .... which would have left me with $0 after housing and child raising costs. If I made $10k, I would have had the entire $10k. You are comparing big apples to oranges.

You said: > When I was living in NYC I paid 39% federal + 13.5% state/city - that’s over 50% According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_State... you earn >$400k a year? If so you shouldn't have any problems in NY. If you do make $100k, you'd be way better off in Texas: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou... In other words, we're comparing apples to apples here.

I didn’t say I had problems in NYC. I just said US taxes can be as high or higher than European taxes.

Yes, if you make $100k you are better off in Texas. There are way more jobs that pay $100k (not to mention $400k) in NYC than in Texas though. I’m not sure what the apples are or what we’re comparing; if it’s tax rates than the US isn’t as low as people believe.

Re: Employers will do almost anything to find workers except pay them more

#382

Post by pluto9 »

lovich wrote: post #379
pluto9 wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of memes that need to die: > see the US where people die on the streets because they can't afford an ambulance American hospitals cannot deny emergency treatment for lack of ability to pay.

No but people avoid going to the doctor until it's too late because they'd rather not go bankrupt

Then maybe GP should say that instead of making false statements about ambulances for dramatic effect. Ambulances are for emergencies. Nobody has ever died because they couldn't afford an ambulance to take them to their chemotherapy appointment.

Re: Employers will do almost anything to find workers except pay them more

#383

Post by siruncledrew »

throwaway494949 wrote: post #80
sametmax wrote: post #11

And if you think it's bad, it's even worse in Europe. Taking the French example: I'm an freelancer, but I used to have a contract with an American company. They gave me 3x the salary most of my French colleagues would get, while keeping the exact same social advantages (they paid me through a French branch). However, to them, the salary was twice lower than what they would have paid for the same guy in the Valley. No…

If you're a senior software engineer, come to Sweden. You'll at least get 6000 usd/month as an employee. Management usually has a background in tech, you get lots of vacation, parental leave, etc. You're not expected to stay longer than 5 pm and working from home is common. There are many interesting jobs in finance, telecom, automotive, entertainment, medicine, defence, and there are plenty of startups. I work as a…

That's sort of the dilemma I see - living in the US and make more money compared to EU friends, but the lifestyle component of US work life is much behind EU. I can see how working in the US to earn more money during younger years might be good, then moving to EU later in life to enjoy the social benefits. Even in Silicon Valley, there are many people I know who make 6-figure salaries, but spend 2+hrs per day commuting, live in small apartments since rent is so high, and basically spend any time not eating/sleeping at or around work.

Re: Employers will do almost anything to find workers except pay them more

#384

Post by 2020-3030 »

Applejinx wrote: post #222
dmichulke wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing you describe is the narrative of the evil capitalist owner exploiting poor workers. Here's a thought experiment - those (tourism businesses) owners are making lots of money, so why not create such a business yourself (maybe with help of some external capital) and pay better wages and treat your staff better and pay taxes? Your clients will be much happier with you while having to pay the same. Other capital…

Small business guy here. When abusive employment practices give you a competitive advantage and nothing stops you from doing them, you can indeed go and be virtuous and make less money for yourself and your business and lose all day long. At the scale of publically held companies, your bossy evilness is virtue signalling that tells the market that you are viable in the era of Uber and Amazon. Right now, as things sta…

All is not lost, the story of Gravity Payments is an unfolding example and experiment of a company owner, Dan Price, taking positive actions for employees including large wage increases. https://gravitypayments.com/thegravityof70k/

Dan took a thought and turned it into a real experiment. I believe the results are very positive in terms of profits, much higher wages for workers, higher customer retention, and deservedly good PR. https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergeorgescu/2018/01/24/what-...

Re: Employers will do almost anything to find workers except pay them more

#385

Post by sli »

sametmax wrote: post #11

And if you think it's bad, it's even worse in Europe. Taking the French example: I'm an freelancer, but I used to have a contract with an American company. They gave me 3x the salary most of my French colleagues would get, while keeping the exact same social advantages (they paid me through a French branch). However, to them, the salary was twice lower than what they would have paid for the same guy in the Valley. No…

This is also amplified by tech companies in "non-tech" areas. I know I make less than I should, but my options are very limited unless I want to add a long (and extremely dangerous) commute. Moving is more expensive than I can afford right now.

And when I say extremely dangerous, I mean the highway I'd have to take to the larger cities with more jobs is consistently in the top five most dangerous roads in the US, and has been #1 a few times. I can really only hope wouldn't end up in the hospital (with a massive bill) or dead before I earn enough to move. I just kinda have to stick it out unless someone wants to hand me a fairly sizeable signing bonus. I can always negotiate, but it seems like it would foolish to rely on that perk being there.

Your job listing example describes me pretty well, that's what I found striking. At least I do enjoy my job for the most part.

Re: Employers will do almost anything to find workers except pay them more

#386

Post by coryfklein »

Waterluvian wrote: post #74
eloff wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's bizarre. Even Amazon Seattle pays 2x the salaries of Amazon Vancouver, even although they are separated by only 200km and are the same company! I ask every Canadian developer I meet, why are you still here? I like living in Canada, so I work remotely even although I don't really like remote work. Instant 70% raise.

Yeah I've had a number of jobs I turned down because I simply don't want to live in the US. There's just something about the calm nature of where I live that's worth a lot to me.

There are a lot of calm nature locations in the U.S., I'm just sayin'. You won't make Silicon Valley wages, but you may still have an improvement looking in alternative city centers with varying proximity to nature: Austin, Chicago, Boston, Denver, Salt Lake City

Re: Employers will do almost anything to find workers except pay them more

#387

Post by nradov »

mistermann wrote: post #375
guelo wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is incorrect. Here you can see that the US CPI-U includes shelter which is running at 3.5% inflation https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.htm

> That is incorrect. Maybe, show me your math proving that number is correct. I can't speak for the US, but in Canada the housing component of the CPI has utterly no connection to actual observed costs of owning or renting, at the national level as well as the municipal level. You don't have to take this as a fact (I can't really prove it if the government doesn't share their data or calculations, can I), but moreso…

Don't be lazy. The BLS publishes their methodology in detail. What specific part of it do you disagree with?

Re: Employers will do almost anything to find workers except pay them more

#388

Post by morsma »

jhasse wrote: post #187
morsma wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't just count VAT, let's count everything: 150%-250% taxes on energy, ridiculous amount of fees and duties. As a Dane, we're probably the most taxed in the world and for a high earning software engineer it's approaching 75%.

The state enables a lot of stuff for you in return though, which we'd also have to count as a benefit if we "count everything". It's just infeasible to come up with a concrete number of how much they "take away" from your earned money.

I have the same benefits in the US as in Denmark (more or less). In the US the government take 25% of my income in Denmark it was around 75%. Personally I don't think the extra 50% is worth it. The only ones better off in Denmark is the minimum wage earners.

Re: Employers will do almost anything to find workers except pay them more

#389

Post by morsma »

beagle3 wrote: post #381
morsma wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You said: > When I was living in NYC I paid 39% federal + 13.5% state/city - that’s over 50% According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_State... you earn >$400k a year? If so you shouldn't have any problems in NY. If you do make $100k, you'd be way better off in Texas: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou... In other words, we're comparing apples to apples here.

I didn’t say I had problems in NYC. I just said US taxes can be as high or higher than European taxes. Yes, if you make $100k you are better off in Texas. There are way more jobs that pay $100k (not to mention $400k) in NYC than in Texas though. I’m not sure what the apples are or what we’re comparing; if it’s tax rates than the US isn’t as low as people believe.

Every one is better off in Texas compared to NYC financially. Apples to apples. But it's true, if you insist on the Euro experience, you'll have to pay for it...

Re: Employers will do almost anything to find workers except pay them more

#390

Post by mistermann »

nradov wrote: post #387
mistermann wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That is incorrect. Maybe, show me your math proving that number is correct. I can't speak for the US, but in Canada the housing component of the CPI has utterly no connection to actual observed costs of owning or renting, at the national level as well as the municipal level. You don't have to take this as a fact (I can't really prove it if the government doesn't share their data or calculations, can I), but moreso…

Don't be lazy. The BLS publishes their methodology in detail. What specific part of it do you disagree with?

"I can't speak for the US..."
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