Dumbing Down Salaries with Temp Jobs....

[FloriTexan]

This is a problem for my husband. He had a good job as a plumbing designer (autocad) in the Dallas Area and since 2008 has been laid off and seen nothing but temp jobs that he is forced to take for income reasons at much lesser wages. We have learned that temp-to-perm really means "we are really never going to hire you or give you any benefits or paid time off." Its happened enough, that while he is able to requalify for unemployment benefits, the rate is now much less than he would normally receive and he is forced into taking yet another lower paying job. The viscious cycle continues.

We are sick and tired of hearing from some that "the market is good here." "There are plenty of jobs." So I am somewhat relieved (grateful?) to see this report. The same people that complain about all the "takers" in society are the same people that seem shocked to see he can't find a job. Get ready Ya'll. This is going to be the new norm and its not Obama's fault. The way I see it, it is the fault of greedy business owners that really want to pay less money and have more for themselves and its just a convenience to blame Obama or Obamacare.

From MarketWatch: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whos-hiring-in-the-us-and-what-they-pay-2013-08-01?siteid=yhoof2

“The segment of the economy that has added the most jobs since the recession ended in June 2009 is classified as “professional and business services.” About 2.12 million jobs have been created for architects, engineers, scientists, managers, computer geeks, and yes, journalists.

This is normally high-paying work with an average hourly wage of $28.41 an hour, which translates into $1,136 a week. But there is a wide range. Some occupations such as computer design pay more than $40 an hour and others like upholstery cleaning pay less than $20 an hour.

Unfortunately, almost half of the new professional jobs since mid-2009 were created at temporary-hiring agencies. The work doesn’t always lead to a full-time job and these positions pay far less: $15.74 an hour. Many people clearly like temp jobs, but others have no choice.
The percentage of temps in the private-sector workforce has nearly matched an all-time high of 2.4% set at the end of the Internet boom in early 2000.”

So, what does one do when your once solid, fair paying job is whittled down to the point where the job barely pays more than unemployment benefits? Do you invest money you don't have into changing your career or just enjoy being an involuntary house husband or wife? We've been forced to learn to live on one income but we'd rather have two. What do you think?

[GiaGiovanni]

1. It's a double whammy really

If you get laid off, you usually can't get what you were making before. Then, the Fed has been flooding the system with cheap dollars (quantitative easing) which reduces the value of whatever dollars you are earning. This means that prices go up while you're salary--in both relative and real terms--is going down.

Recipe for poverty nationwide.

[onestepforward]

2. K&R n/t

[reformist2]

3. The old economic model is collapsing, completely.

What happened to blue-collar workers is now happening to white-collar workers of all types, even professionals.

The modern, high-tech, globalized, roboticized economy doesn't need everyone to work. And as the years go by, it will need fewer and fewer. This appears to me to be a problem.

[GiaGiovanni]

4. This sounds likely

.

[AngryOldDem]

5. That's why I take "positive economic news" with a huge grain of salt.

Yes, the jobs are there, but you sacrifice a lot of basic standards of living for them. But the employment numbers look good, as long as you don't look at them too closely.

[Safetykitten]

6. First of all, any most Cad positions that are at design firms or civil firms

are now contract. So that is the new normal. You better get used to it. Since your husband is very adept at cad, he may be able to get a job at firm where they have more work, and then it would become relatively more stable because of a longer time needed.

The firms that used to hire people that were in a profession like architecture would in the past hire architecture graduates before hiring what is lovingly called cad monkeys. The collapse of the economy now has cad monkeys in the front of the line, and the graduates the last to be hired.

This is the new reality. Part-time and less money on contract. Thank Obamacare and the economy, and yes, Obama is to blame.

[FloriTexan]

7. You seem to accept all this with a grain of salt...

Last edited Thu Aug 1, 2013, 05:57 PM - Edit history (1)

why is that? Are you contract? Gainfully employed or a temp agency employee?

You're post is condescending and unrealistic. My "cad monkey" husband is routinely disqualified for many cad jobs because he is excluded by the overly specific job requirements that employers now publish. They want so many years of experience in specific disciplines, etc. etc.

Further, many employers exclude the unemployed from consideration. Plus he is not a youngster fresh out of college. He is teaching himself Revit to stay on top of things.

How do you propose he find out whether a potential employer has plenty of work or not? He and about 8 other "cad monkey's" just got laid off when the work dropped off after 8 months. Its not like someone looking for work these days can screen their employers.

I hope you don't find yourself in this situation. We're all just a job loss away from this.