St George (Salt Lake City, St. George, Cedar City: transplants, house insurance, high crime)

[mawilson]

Is anyone in the forum from St George? Why does it seem like there are no jobs down there? I have looked through job service ect, but doesnt seem like there is much to choose from

[The Casselli's]

Originally Posted by mawilson

Is anyone in the forum from St George? Why does it seem like there are no jobs down there? I have looked through job service ect, but doesnt seem like there is much to choose from

I wonder what is the problem myself. Not only are there no jobs but the wages are terrible! If you apply for the city, county or state jobs...GOOD LUCK cause there are far more applicants for one position. Also, the entry level jobs some of them require a BA or MA and the wages are 10.00 per hour, however, your lucky if you get 12.00 per hour. Also, some of them require fluent spanish speaking and don't get paid bilingual bonus pay.

For the entry level jobs here in St. George they require a list of demands such as computer knowledge (several software programs) years of experience, fluent in spanish, typing speed 65 or more, work weekends, some of them require to use your own car to run office errands or travel, work grave yard, and the best yet, work long hour shifts without breaks. Oh yeah, also you must have a BA or MA. All of this for an entry level position at $10.00 per hour.

Most of the people I know have two job here in order to make it. Just ask around at Walmart, Lowes, Albertson, just about anywhere and you will meet most of workers have 2 full time or 1 full time and a part time job.

Welcome to St. George!

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by The Casselli's

I wonder what is the problem myself. Not only are there no jobs but the wages are terrible! If you apply for the city, county or state jobs...GOOD LUCK cause there are far more applicants for one position. Also, the entry level jobs some of them require a BA or MA and the wages are 10.00 per hour, however, your lucky if you get 12.00 per hour. Also, some of them require fluent spanish speaking and don't get paid bilingual bonus pay.

For the entry level jobs here in St. George they require a list of demands such as computer knowledge (several software programs) years of experience, fluent in spanish, typing speed 65 or more, work weekends, some of them require to use your own car to run office errands or travel, work grave yard, and the best yet, work long hour shifts without breaks. Oh yeah, also you must have a BA or MA. All of this for an entry level position at $10.00 per hour.

Most of the people I know have two job here in order to make it. Just ask around at Walmart, Lowes, Albertson, just about anywhere and you will meet most of workers have 2 full time or 1 full time and a part time job.

Welcome to St. George!

This litany is typical of any resort/retirement community in the Rocky Mountain West--high living costs, low local salaries and incomes. That's why more and more of these places are inhabited by affluent transplants who bring their money with them, and more and more natives and long-time locals are forced by economics to move elsewhere. Read the Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana forums and you will hear the same complaints over and over.

I posted this study over on another forum awhile back. It is an interesting read:

http://www.ace.uiuc.edu/Reap/Isserma...Prosperity.pdf

[FlyGuy]

i just have a few questions on the wages in St. george Utah. My husband is blue collar worker. He is a ASE certified automotive technicaian. we currently live in northren california in a small town. We are looking to relocate to another state and were looking into the southren part of Utah. i have read good and bad things about St. George. But I think that it just all depends on a person and there likes and dislikes. I was wondering if any one could tell me what a seasoned technicain would make there.
Anyone with any info. would be greatly appreciated.
thank you flyguy

[Aerorick]

I really can't put my finger on wages in Southern Utah that, at least, appear low. There's a study that puts surveyed wages for a given state in a pyramid display and Utah seems to fair better than many others. The study referanced a couple posts earlier is informative but very general. But from I read from people's personal experiances I'm afraid the reality in everyday life is that there's something to the complaints.
Many complaints come from folks who have moved here from someplace else. California and Nevada in peticular. And compared to the employment environments in those states Utah could really never compare. For one, look in the employment ads in the Spectrom or Pioneer Shopper. They cover an area from Cedar City to St. George. Most are part-time or for general labor or one of those "Make $5,000 a month at home" scams. Of course there's a few for truck drivers and heavy equipment mechanics. Both of which are quite specialized and the $14-$18/hr for a skilled diesel mechanic is pretty sad. The standard employment agreement in Utah states that you are free to leave the job at anytime and by that token the company is free to fire you at anytime without cause. I nearly flipped when I read that. That pretty much negates any reason for a probation period but they have that too. For what I have no idea. My only experiance with medical benefits was the employee share of the premium was quite high and there are really only two plans in Utah that will work for it's hospital system.
To the ASE mechanic I can only offer that if you want to work in your profession for the wages you deserve ya' gotta' go where they're at. And Utah ain't it. I'm a formally "retired" certificated aircraft mechanic who has decided to get back to it. And Vegas is the only place, two and a half hours away, wheres there's airplanes my size. Am I going to stay three nights a week there and commute the rest? Well it's either that or $10/hr with little or no benefits with a compromise job that'll I'll not be happy with. And unfortuneatly there's a lot of unhappy people working around here. Am I complaining? Heck no. We've got a lot going for us. But if we want get to our dreams, we've got to do what we've got to do.

[dogmom]

Stay in NorCal...you will not be happy here....agreed...low, low wages compared with the cost of living, which is less, but not that much less, than NorCal. We came here from Sac area over 2 years ago..even with retirement it's hard to manage. Gas is as high or higher than our son pays in Rocklin, house insurance is about the same and car insurance is less, I will give it that...considering this is the most frightening place I have ever driven, you would think it would be higher

Utah is not it..

[The Casselli's]

Originally Posted by FlyGuy

i just have a few questions on the wages in St. george Utah. My husband is blue collar worker. He is a ASE certified automotive technicaian. we currently live in northren california in a small town. We are looking to relocate to another state and were looking into the southren part of Utah. i have read good and bad things about St. George. But I think that it just all depends on a person and there likes and dislikes. I was wondering if any one could tell me what a seasoned technicain would make there.
Anyone with any info. would be greatly appreciated.
thank you flyguy

I agree with Dogmom and all others on this forum. If you move here you will regret it. I left a good paying job in the legal field in 2004. I knew that I was not going to get as much or even close to what I was making in California. When we sold our home in Pasadena, CA...we did it because St. George is a beautiful place and love the fact that we didn't have to fight traffic or deal with smog and high crime. However, since we moved it all changed. There is more and more traffic, crime is not as high as in big cities but crime is becoming a factor here. Another thing is that you being certified or have a BA or MA or years of experience doesn't mean anything here. It's who you know and other discrimation issues.

Have you visited St. George lately? Look at the job openings and the salaries offered either in career builders.com or yahoo.com or the local newspaper The Spectrum and if I were you, do your research before moving here. If you still want to move to Utah, I'd advise you to move to Salt Lake City. More diversity and a little high wages but not by much.

Good luck folks!

[SpencerLV]

I agree with dogmom, we lived in the St. George area before moving to NorCal and cost of living in SG is the same as NorCal, only difference we have noticed so far is property taxes in CA are higher than for our home in SG area. Gas is comparable, as are groceries, utilities, etc. Another problem is SG is a much, much smaller area, gas stations and a lot of restaurants are owned by the same person or a very few same people, so you don't have much variety or choice doing price comparisons as they all kept up with each others' price increases. The best gas deal we found in SG was at Costco, and even that is comparable to Costco here in NorCal.

Also, it's bloody hot in summer, oddly cold in winter, and too dusty to open windows, so there are rarely any "breaks" from either constantly running the heat or a/c.

On the jobs and wages issue, there are woefully few jobs for white collar workers (the two jobs in town are either filled for life or there are 100 people applying for one position). Not sure about blue collared, but I have heard that wages are going down in that area as well due to the economic dowturn with the housing crash, plus the glut of ex-realtors and ex-mortgage people returning to their mostly blue collared jobs. Personal opinion, I'd stay where you are or find a bigger metro area that has more industry and can support a larger population. Otherwise, the area is stunningly beautiful and the people we met were extremely nice. Good luck!!

[Snickery]

Agreed, the wages are pitifully low, and a degree means ZIPPO!! Stay in NoCal, for your own benefit.. Moved from there a year-ago and don't regret it a bit!!!

[Rockhopper]

Originally Posted by The Casselli's

Another thing is that you being certified or have a BA or MA or years of experience doesn't mean anything here. It's who you know and other discrimation issues.

Man you couldn't be more correct. This town is full of the "Good Ol Boy" network. "If ya ain't from here, ya ain't gettin' a job here!" It's tooth and nail at times. I'm not white collar by any means but I know a lot of people who are and they work ridiculously long hours, miss time with family and are generally unhappy with the way things are going on here right now. I try to keep an optimistic outlook that things will get better but sometimes my optimism hops the fence into pessimism's backyard. I am almost regretting leaving the Phoenix/Metro area. Jobs galore and people that paid you well for a job well done. Out here you're lucky if you get a thank you after busting your ass all day.