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What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

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Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#261

Post by notesinthefield »

mrjangles wrote: post #83
alexfromapex wrote: post #31

I think this article starts to touch on a topic area I don't hear much about but am extremely frustrated by: how modern work for a lot of jobs has become de facto indentured servitude. In the "When They Know They've Got You" section, they mention the real challenges of not being able to obtain a lawyer if things truly aren't fair. The average worker can't afford anything without taking on debt. Insurance is a scam in…

>how modern work for a lot of jobs has become de facto indentured servitude...The average worker can't afford anything without taking on debt. For people from other countries wondering about the veracity of these claims, let's take an example: The typical shitty job everyone on here complains about is working at an amazon warehouse. This is a job people with no skills take on. They pay 15 USD an hour. In other curren…

I dont think this comparison is as relevant as youre presenting it to be - why concern ourselves with the rest of the world when the GP and the linked article are US centric? Furthermore - why would someone struggling and feeling enslaved care one bit about how much harder anyone has it?

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#262

Post by fennecfoxen »

nameisname wrote: post #231
Spivak wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can’t afford to live in the city where you work then it’s pretty much the definition of “not a living wage.” Like are we really at the point where we’re totally fine with people commuting an hour one way every workday to a shitty minimum wage job instead of just building affordable modest housing reserved for people working in the city.

It's not the wage that needs to change it would be the prices of housing in the city. This can't change because it's not determined by some governing body. It's called gentrification. It's currently happening to me. I could not afford to buy my house now and I just bought it a few years ago. Of course there still needs to be staff in the area working retail etc. but I haven't seen anyone over 25 in a store near me fo…

It’s the natural consequences of policies enacted by many governing bodies. Cities with land use restrictions and onerous zoning restrictions where they are allergic to highways and only build bad public transit run by incompetents, built by corrupt contractors and expensive unions? The prices are substantially the fault of the local governance. This is why people move out of San Francisco and New York and Chicago.

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#263

Post by oh_sigh »

abxytg wrote: post #102
mrjangles wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>how modern work for a lot of jobs has become de facto indentured servitude...The average worker can't afford anything without taking on debt. For people from other countries wondering about the veracity of these claims, let's take an example: The typical shitty job everyone on here complains about is working at an amazon warehouse. This is a job people with no skills take on. They pay 15 USD an hour. In other curren…

Cynically untrue. Amazon is not even close to bottom of the barrel. And it's clear you haven't paid market rent in a major city since you bought that starter home back in the 90s - 42k is a joke when your rent is close to $2500 and you get no benefits.

I work at a FANG, total comp in 300k-400k range, and my rent is less than $2500. Can you tell me why someone making $15/hr needs to rent a place that costs $2500/mo?

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#264

Post by BeFlatXIII »

k__ wrote: post #4

I always have to think about this when people say "buy more at small businesses!" Most small businesse owners I met were just as shitty as the ones of big businesses, they just weren't as smart as them.

IMO, every discussion about small business tyrants and major corporation worker exploitation should come with the disclaimer that small businesses have far far wider variability than major corporations. Harm at scale comes from places like Amazon. The most egregious abuses toward individual employees (in the modern era), however, are almost certainly from the small business side.

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#265

Post by rurp »

Having worked a variety of skilled and unskilled blue collar jobs before working in software, this article was spot on in many ways. One eerily relatable part was the example about:

>someone who isn’t getting remarried a month after their fourth divorce.

At a past job I heard that a recently married coworker had used a drive through chapel for the service. I was pretty surprised and asked him about it. His memorable reply was to shrug and say, "Well when it's your third time you mostly just want to get through it quickly".

As it happens I ran into the couple five or six years later, after having left the company, and they were still together and seemed happy.

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#266

Post by oh_sigh »

betwixthewires wrote: post #248
abxytg wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cynically untrue. Amazon is not even close to bottom of the barrel. And it's clear you haven't paid market rent in a major city since you bought that starter home back in the 90s - 42k is a joke when your rent is close to $2500 and you get no benefits.

Not that I disagree with you, but when these discussions come up I always see "major city" as the baseline, as if they're the only places in the world that are worth living in.

Likewise, they always take effectively the 0th percentile wages among workers (minimum wage earners), and compare that to the 50th percentile housing units. If 0th percentile earners are expected to be renting the 50th percentile units, who exactly is going to be living in the 40th percentile and below units?

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#267

Post by BeFlatXIII »

crate_barre wrote: post #5

Any job that doesn’t holistically build your skill set (antithetical to a career). As in, the money is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. If you stock Shampoo on a shelf, and you can’t flip that into something useful, it’s a worthless job. It’s better to get paid $0 being in the right field for a bit than actually being paid in the wrong path. It’s negative money unless you are using it to pivot into the right…

Even with STEM degrees, you're making a bet on the state of the job market in four years. If you can self-teach how to program, the degree is more of a compliance checkbox to get into your first job easier, even if it is directly to do with computers.

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#268

Post by rurp »

mrjangles wrote: post #83
alexfromapex wrote: post #31

I think this article starts to touch on a topic area I don't hear much about but am extremely frustrated by: how modern work for a lot of jobs has become de facto indentured servitude. In the "When They Know They've Got You" section, they mention the real challenges of not being able to obtain a lawyer if things truly aren't fair. The average worker can't afford anything without taking on debt. Insurance is a scam in…

>how modern work for a lot of jobs has become de facto indentured servitude...The average worker can't afford anything without taking on debt. For people from other countries wondering about the veracity of these claims, let's take an example: The typical shitty job everyone on here complains about is working at an amazon warehouse. This is a job people with no skills take on. They pay 15 USD an hour. In other curren…

Comparing income between countries without accounting for cost of living is highly misleading.

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#270

Post by klyrs »

willnonya wrote: post #174
klyrs wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Drop the IRS and let the government simply print money it needs When the government's "needs" are determined by the rich, what happens to the money that gets printed? That's how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Simplify the tax code, eliminate loopholes, raise tax rates on extreme wealth & income, and fund the IRS to investigate major tax fraud (instead of the nickle&dime shit they go after today). This…

You missing your own point here. The 'needs' of the government aren't determined by the rich but rather the imbeciles elected by the masses. If you want change the people have to demand it but instead they simply advocate for more of the status quo. Simplifying the tax code is a valid idea. Targeting the 'rich' and ramping up tax fraud witch hunts, not so much. Historically if you want to collect more taxes you lower…

> The 'needs' of the government aren't determined by the rich but rather the imbeciles elected by the masses

Your understanding of the elections in the US is hopelessly naive, especially after Citizens United opened the floodgates for unlimited, anonymous donations to political campaigns. Politicians do the bidding of the people who give them the most money. Elections are typically between two candidates who wear colors of different gangs, but have been paid off by the same companies. Voting forces a choice between candidates; donating and lobbying allows the rich to get their policies in place regardless of who wins.

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