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Old 02-13-2012, 06:11 PM
 
Location: Honolulu, HI
60 posts, read 244,656 times
Reputation: 42

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joliefille View Post
The OP said her husband had a year left. Not that they'd only be here a year.
If he only had one year left in the service, the military would NOT PCS him out here so maybe the OP means something else when she says he can get out next year?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dthraco View Post
LOL indeed...From your viewpoint these things may seem like good ideas, but Hawaii and Georgia are two very different places.
And thank god for that!


Quote:
Originally Posted by Caraseun View Post
Honolulu is just wayy over crowded therefore the lack of jobs. There are more people moving every year to the island. Its insane! When I was apartment hunting there wiould be at least 10 other people trying to get the same apartment. I had no idea how desirable Hawaii is since we moved because of the military.
In another note a lot of employees in retail are mainland students from UH Manoa or the kapiolani college. They move thinking it will be fun to study by the beach and don't mind living with 4 roommates in a 1 bedroom apartment, getting payed minimum wage. I met a lot of those. There are many factors like those that make the job market hurt in Honolulu.
Someone sounds bitter, much?
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Old 02-21-2012, 09:32 PM
 
Location: Maui County, HI
4,131 posts, read 7,413,798 times
Reputation: 3391
Quote:
Originally Posted by PacificFlights View Post
it has nothing to do with if we think companies are paying fare wages, it is just the reality and FACT of Hawaii. Trying to argue over Hawaii wages versus mainland wages is the same as complaining about the lack of snow during the winter. Its a fact of life you and I have no control over so get over it already......
I think that attitude is one reason wages stay low in Hawaii. There is very much a plantation mentality, right down to the fact that "plantation" isn't even a bad word here like it is in the Caribbean and the South. Instead people are proud of their plantation heritage even though it was exploitative and cruel. Now, people in Hawaii tend to be thankful to even have a job rather than demand better pay, and take it upon themselves to make up for it. So workers live with their extended families, or otherwise crummy conditions, and take extra jobs, all so their employers can afford nice houses in Wailea and Ka`anapali.
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Old 02-23-2012, 10:18 PM
 
2 posts, read 2,723 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caraseun View Post
Clearly numbers don't lie. I just happen to see Asian visitors year round whereas Americans only during holidays and the summer. Funny whenever I applied for jobs at hotels they would tell me how they couldn't make me any offer for my inability to speak Japanese. Maybe they are the ones who fill the 5 star hotels. anyhow I'm not discussing wether Hawaii isnt n awesome tourist destination. I dreamed on visiting Hawaii at some point of my life. It just so happened my husband got stationed here. My concern is the low wages compared to the HIGH cost of living. I believe it is a closed case since you guys think it is ok for a company to not pay a fare wage to their employees. Now everything makes sense I used to ask myself why the Hawaiians living in Forth Worth Texas would leave their beautiful state for the humid, 100+ degrees summer, no beach or mountain Forth Worth. The answer is pretty clear.

It sounds like you have limited yourself in the job market. There is no such thing as a "fair wage" that is arbitrary (emotional gibberish). You should try starting a small business, that may be the answer to your problem. Not to mention you would learn more about what and how a business works. Find a need/service/product and try to fill it. Figure out your interests/expertise/hobbies and put the two together. I have been self employed for 25 yrs and I am moving to Kauai this summer. I don't know what I'll end up doing for work, however I know I will either find something or create a small business again. And Mahalo to your husband for his service!
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Old 02-23-2012, 10:27 PM
 
2 posts, read 2,723 times
Reputation: 10
scottfree00 Howdy, soon to be neighbor. Me and my husband will be moving to Kauai this summer, provided we sell our house. We are empty nester's looking to turn our hobbies into our jobs on the island. We may start a Texas BBQ mobile vending business. I met some great people in Kauai earlier this month while I was there and they suggested there was a need for good BBQ. We'll see........
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Old 02-24-2012, 12:22 AM
 
393 posts, read 1,110,838 times
Reputation: 240
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdand3boys View Post
If a company does not pay a fair wage, they won't either get any employees or keep the ones they do get. No one is forcing the employee to work for a particular company. No one forces an employee to work at the same job at minimum wage, all of their life.

The higher that minimum wage goes up relative to the value that the employee gives to the employer, the fewer actual there are available.
Employers connive, scheme, mislead and misdirect to ensure that their labor costs remain low, and they do this in many ways that I know about, and clearly in many ways that I have yet even to imagine. You cannot have fair bargaining or a free market when one side has the majority of the money and power.

You are completely wrong about businesses not getting employees; when have you ever known of any company that could not attract someone to work for them on the basis of pay? I have never yet heard of any business going out of business because they could not find someone who would work for them for little pay. That's particularly true of big business, that can (and do) simply import someone from any number of countries to do the work, or else export the work to those other countries. Nor do businesses care about high turnover; they thrive on it.
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Old 02-24-2012, 12:31 AM
 
393 posts, read 1,110,838 times
Reputation: 240
Quote:
Originally Posted by candyintexas View Post
You should try starting a small business, that may be the answer to your problem.
Most businesses go out of business within 5 years. The leading reason is insufficient capitalization.

"If you start a business, odds are that your company will fail. Data from the U.S. Small Business Administration shows that regardless of the year when they are founded, the majority of start-ups go out of business within five years, and two-thirds are no longer operating ten years after being formed."

Why Do Most Start Ups Fail?

Launching into a business simply because you need a job is not a great idea. She could get into really deep water that way.

Quote:
Originally Posted by candyintexas View Post
Not to mention you would learn more about what and how a business works. Find a need/service/product and try to fill it. Figure out your interests/expertise/hobbies and put the two together. I have been self employed for 25 yrs and I am moving to Kauai this summer. I don't know what I'll end up doing for work, however I know I will either find something or create a small business again.
Or, you will move back to the mainland in a few years, having run out of money in Hawaii.
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Old 02-24-2012, 12:50 AM
 
Location: Hawaii-Puna District
3,752 posts, read 11,468,733 times
Reputation: 2481
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pooua View Post
Employers connive, scheme, mislead and misdirect to ensure that their labor costs remain low, and they do this in many ways that I know about, and clearly in many ways that I have yet even to imagine. You cannot have fair bargaining or a free market when one side has the majority of the money and power.

You are completely wrong about businesses not getting employees; when have you ever known of any company that could not attract someone to work for them on the basis of pay? I have never yet heard of any business going out of business because they could not find someone who would work for them for little pay. That's particularly true of big business, that can (and do) simply import someone from any number of countries to do the work, or else export the work to those other countries. Nor do businesses care about high turnover; they thrive on it.
I can tell that you have never owned a business that employed people.
Turnover and training costs more money than keeping a good employee. You obviously don't know about employment taxes either.
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Old 02-24-2012, 01:37 AM
 
Location: Maui County, HI
4,131 posts, read 7,413,798 times
Reputation: 3391
Quote:
Originally Posted by candyintexas View Post
It sounds like you have limited yourself in the job market. There is no such thing as a "fair wage" that is arbitrary (emotional gibberish). You should try starting a small business, that may be the answer to your problem. Not to mention you would learn more about what and how a business works. Find a need/service/product and try to fill it. Figure out your interests/expertise/hobbies and put the two together. I have been self employed for 25 yrs and I am moving to Kauai this summer. I don't know what I'll end up doing for work, however I know I will either find something or create a small business again. And Mahalo to your husband for his service!
If you don't get paid enough to get by, it's not a fair wage.

Most small businesses fail, and it takes a money and time to start one in the first place. If I had $900 for a camera and a couple lenses I think I could be making money doing portraits, surf photos, and maybe rodeo pictures right now. But I don't have $900 because my regular job doesn't pay me even enough to get by, much less save to start a business... Which is what sucks about Hawaii. The low wages and high cost of living put a squeeze on everybody and make this the land of non-opportunity in a way.

The solution to unfair wages isn't everybody starting their own business. That's just not possible. How well would your BBQ stand work if everybody else also starts a food stand?

Last edited by winkosmosis; 02-24-2012 at 01:52 AM..
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Old 02-24-2012, 01:56 AM
 
Location: Maui County, HI
4,131 posts, read 7,413,798 times
Reputation: 3391
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdand3boys View Post
I can tell that you have never owned a business that employed people.
Turnover and training costs more money than keeping a good employee. You obviously don't know about employment taxes either.
Then explain to me why so many businesses pay minimum wage, which is far below a living wage, especially in Hawaii.
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Old 02-24-2012, 05:32 AM
 
Location: Atlanta
4,439 posts, read 5,504,612 times
Reputation: 3395
Quote:
Originally Posted by winkosmosis View Post
If you don't get paid enough to get by, it's not a fair wage.

Most small businesses fail, and it takes a money and time to start one in the first place. If I had $900 for a camera and a couple lenses I think I could be making money doing portraits, surf photos, and maybe rodeo pictures right now. But I don't have $900 because my regular job doesn't pay me even enough to get by, much less save to start a business... Which is what sucks about Hawaii. The low wages and high cost of living put a squeeze on everybody and make this the land of non-opportunity in a way.

The solution to unfair wages isn't everybody starting their own business. That's just not possible. How well would your BBQ stand work if everybody else also starts a food stand?

I agree 100%. The problem with Hawaii is that employers have much more of a stronghold over their slav...uh, employees than they do on the mainland. I think it has a lot to do with the "captive" nature of geography - it's not easy to just up stakes and move to another state in the ol' jalopy - not when it's $3000 just to ship the thing...lol. So people just put up with it, saying "that's Hawaii."

Know what, I think it's time to call "BS" on that. If people are making a living wage in NYC because Burger King is paying $15 an hour, well, then there's no reason that wages can't be that high in Hawaii. If it takes government action to bring this about, so be it.

The problem is a simple one, along with a simple solution - high costs mean that wages needs to be high too - either that or force employers to post what their salaries are really worth in "mainland dollars," so the poor saps can see how much they're really getting ripped off.

And if I had a time machine, you can bet I'd be going back and running those evil plantation owners off the islands in my bad-ass military combat vehicle...LOL. Aloha!
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