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I wonder if businesses realize that. Right now, a whole lot of workers cannot AFFORD to be consumers. Since we are a consumer-based society, that does not bode well for our future.
Of course they realize that - that's why they almost always have to consider the impact any business decision has on the price point of the product. No business wants to price itself out of the market.
Last edited by Slowpoke_TX; 12-17-2013 at 08:39 PM..
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I started as an In-Store Universal Banker (basically a Teller / Baby Personal Banker combo) a little over three years ago before finishing college, working at $14.76 per hour. I had recently turned 20 at this point, and thought (at the time) $14.76 was great. I lived within my means, the bank paid for part of my college, I paid for the rest by living conservatively. I also learned every facet about the industry, my position, and took every chance I could to learn responsibilities and procedures not expected of my position.
Fast-forward to last month: I was promoted to Vice President of my bank's operations in the Portland metropolitan market. I now make almost 7 times what I was making just a little over three years ago.
This is what Teller / Universal Banker position is for - a stepping stone. No one should spend more than a year or two in it. Anyone who tries to make a long term living out of it is going to be sorely disappointed, and yes, likely on public assistance. This is the same for pretty much EVERY type of entry-level job out there.
I'd have killed myself if I spent any more time in it (I was in that position for a year, before moving up).
Quote:
Originally Posted by s1alker
Bank teller used to be a decent job at one time. Now it's reduced to a McJob with dress clothes.
Umm... maybe 200 years ago.
I have access to historical salary data for my bank's operations across the nation (one of the largest banks in the world, not just the the nation), and salary for tellers has remained fairly consistent when compared to inflation, etc.
Heck, Assistant Branch Managers don't even get paid that well. $50,000-$60,000 (this is the high end) to be the co-leader for an entire bank facility? I did it for 9 months and did everything possible to ensure I wasn't stuck there for more than I needed to be.
Yup. But this is a very different world. And a very different economy.
They think the answers that worked for them, in that world...will work in this one, and they won't and don't.
They act as if anyone could just pick up and start working - forget the fact you have to actually convince someone to hire you first.
Some of the people giving pat answers such as "get a different job", "get a second job", "move to a different area", "go back to school", "start a business", etc. gloss right over the logistical roadblocks to whatever suggestions they provide, either because they are so far-removed from the job-selection process, or they already "got theirs" and just don't care. These solutions take time and money, and the lack of either one, or both, are legitimate roadblocks, not excuses.
Even 15-20 years ago, it was different. In 1994, I got a job with a starting salary of $9/hour. BUT, at that time, I was also able to get a used car for $1800, gas was about $1.20 a gallon, and at that time, I had a 1 BR apartment for $425/month (You could even get an efficiency, possibly, for $375.). I was fortunate enough to work for companies that offered overtime and that had opportunity to move up within the company. Now, that same apartment goes for $700 at a minimum, gas is three times what it was at that time, and a decent used car goes for thousands more. I don't underestimate the elements of timing and luck in my predicament.
Maybe that $10/hour job is intended to be entry-level, but shouldn't people be able to attend to their basic needs while gunning for that promotion (which may not even be available?) And now, for that same $10/hour job, people now have to run the gauntlet of making sure that their resume has enough keywords to get past the HR bots, setting up multiple interviews, one of which could be a ride-along that could take the whole day, for just the possibility of being hired. The whole process to get a job when you already have one, or a second job, often makes it time-prohibitive. Can you imagine getting canned for taking too much time off of work because you are going on multiple interviews for a better job?
I don't have the answers, but I know that the bootstrapping platitudes don't help. And stagnating wages sure hasn't helped prices stay low. And when I say wage stagnation, I'm certainly not referring to the CEOs who have seen their pay skyrocket to what, 400 times that of the average worker?
The whole system is messed up. Something's got to give. And it shouldn't always be the little guy.
Some of the people giving pat answers such as "get a different job", "get a second job", "move to a different area", "go back to school", "start a business", etc. gloss right over the logistical roadblocks to whatever suggestions they provide, either because they are so far-removed from the job-selection process, or they already "got theirs" and just don't care. These solutions take time and money, and the lack of either one, or both, are legitimate roadblocks, not excuses.
Even 15-20 years ago, it was different. In 1994, I got a job with a starting salary of $9/hour. BUT, at that time, I was also able to get a used car for $1800, gas was about $1.20 a gallon, and at that time, I had a 1 BR apartment for $425/month (You could even get an efficiency, possibly, for $375.). I was fortunate enough to work for companies that offered overtime and that had opportunity to move up within the company. Now, that same apartment goes for $700 at a minimum, gas is three times what it was at that time, and a decent used car goes for thousands more. I don't underestimate the elements of timing and luck in my predicament.
Maybe that $10/hour job is intended to be entry-level, but shouldn't people be able to attend to their basic needs while gunning for that promotion (which may not even be available?) And now, for that same $10/hour job, people now have to run the gauntlet of making sure that their resume has enough keywords to get past the HR bots, setting up multiple interviews, one of which could be a ride-along that could take the whole day, for just the possibility of being hired. The whole process to get a job when you already have one, or a second job, often makes it time-prohibitive. Can you imagine getting canned for taking too much time off of work because you are going on multiple interviews for a better job?
I don't have the answers, but I know that the bootstrapping platitudes don't help. And stagnating wages sure hasn't helped prices stay low. And when I say wage stagnation, I'm certainly not referring to the CEOs who have seen their pay skyrocket to what, 400 times that of the average worker?
The whole system is messed up. Something's got to give. And it shouldn't always be the little guy.
This. Right here.
Especially the bolded and underlined part.
When I first graduated from college and the economy was in the gutter I applied for a part time teller position at a global bank.
The overweight branch assistant manager that interviewed me asked me why I wanted to be a teller as if I had some kind of divine and glamorous reason why I wanted a low paying part time retail gig despite being way overqualified. I told her what she wanted to hear, but I was laughing at the cow on the inside. I was thinking WHY THE Fv(k DO YOU THINK? IT IS BECAUSE I NEED A JOB TO EARN MONEY IN ORDER TO PAY OFF MY STUDENT LOANS AND OTHER BILLS! LoL! I used to be able to not stand stupid questions at all, I have learned to tolerate them now because people ask them all the time!
And yes, being a teller is a retail gig. All those bank branches you see are retail. They try to sell you banking services such as credit cards, saving accounts, checking accounts, CDs, etc. That's retail despite fancy names like "personal banker" or "teller".
There is an extremely short list of jobs that allow you to work a second job. Most jobs require you to be available at any time to work. If you tell your manager that you cant make the 2nd shift he needs you for because you have another job, theyll tell you to hit the road. Your first job would have to have set hours and never require you to work outside of those hours. Then your second job would have to also have set hours, but on a different shift. Then you have to be able to have the health conditions that allow you to operate on 5 hours of sleep long term.
That's true. In almost any retail job in which the business is open long hours, management purposefully shifts the schedules of even full-time employees from week to week so an employee can never be sure when they would be available to make a commitment to anything else. For part-timers it's even worse — they could be left with shorter hours or no hours, with little or no notice. When I used to work at a Robinson-May department store, it was nothing for me to have the close-down shift one day (which could get me home at 1 a.m. during the holiday season and then I'd be scheduled to open at 6 a.m. the next day. It can be grueling ... for around $10 an hour.
Corporations claim this practice is so that they won't be showing favoritism. In truth, I think it's a purposeful decision designed to prevent employees from securing additional employment. They think you'll appreciate your job more if you're destitute ... and fresh to do better work if you haven't been on someone else's alternate shift. Not showing favoritism is a joke. If they could make a dime off it, they wouldn't hesitate to show favoritism. Most of the time when people have second and/or third jobs, that employment is off the books. It's cleaning, or landscaping, or babysitting or something that can be done with the employer not having them as official employees.
This kind of corporate capriciousness is the practice even on college and university campuses today. It's very common for untenured professors not to know from semester to semester how many classes they will be teaching — if at all. Their pay is based on their course load and courses are set according to enrollment, which is not known until the semester begins. A professor could have a full course load in the fall and winter and then find out that for the summer session they are completely unemployed. And they won't know until literally days before they are bounced. Pretty amazing that you could earn a PhD and that would end up being your lot in life. I've known brilliant people — the authors of scholarly books — to work summers in the parks department or being a server in a diner because their classes were cancelled in the summer term and they needed money to raise their families.
There is nothing wrong with getting a second job.
I do it,and many nurses do it.
I don't feel sleep deprived if I work 60 hrs a week.
Back in the day in the 1800's,people that worked on farms worked over 12 hrs a day.
I am 31 btw,not some oldie.
I don't get it. If you want something,like food to eat,why not work extra?
If I didn't have a second job I would be on food stamps,living in the ghetto.
I wouldn't get food stamps to be honest,and I would be $1000 over the limit.
So the other alternative would be starve.
You've mentioned several times now that you are a "nurse" and I assume from your screen name you are located in New Jersey. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for a registered nurse in the Garden State is $37.00 per hour or $76,000 per year. I know the cost of living in NJ is higher than in some states, but I have lived there myself. I didn't make anywhere near even the $60,000 that a licensed practical nurse can make and I didn't live in "the ghetto" (how I hate that rude terminology) and there is no way almost any type of nursing job would be eligible for food stamps, even if you would lower yourself to take them. Even if you are not at the peak salary for a nurse (which is much higher than $76,000), or you are some other kind of nurse, it's unlikely you would be "starving" without a second job, unless you indulge in a very exclusive diet.
If you choose to work 60 hours a week, more power to you. But to assume that is possible for every American to do that is absurd. Who would be raising the children for one thing? There aren't even enough crappy jobs for all of us to have three of them.
Burger flipper, much like bank teller is one position among many in a company, and anyone who wants to stay in one position deserves to get paid whatever it is they get paid. They are limiting themselves.
My friend became a bank teller for 10.50/hr 5 years ago, and now he makes 45,000 a year as a teller manager today and is training as a banker, with higher future plans within the company. By the way, there are 2 positions between regular bank teller and bank manager. Not saying 45,000 is a lot, but it definitely ain't broke, and definitely doesn't need public assistance.
And most tellers come in making 10-12/hr.
BTW, he doesn't have a college degree yet, since he kind of put it off, so he had no advantage, except hard work.
He tells me all the time about how work is and how the tellers are. If someone stays a bank teller forever, that's on them. There's plenty of opportunity for growth in a bank, just like someone doesn't need to be a cashier at McDonalds forever or the drive-thru window.
I hear it all the time. "I don't want to be a manager of a McDonalds..." OK. But if you're going to spend 2 years there, don't complain about your minimum wage, when it doesn't take 2 years to move up at least one position or even 2 positions. No one said you have to be there for the rest of your life, but while you're there, get your ass to work and earn a promotion or quit yer b&tchng.
Sick of this minimum wage argument that's being plastered on multiple forums and multiple news sites. Bunch of complainers.
So if every teller works hard and has the right talents, they will all become managers and then bankers? But then who will be the tellers?
You've mentioned several times now that you are a "nurse" and I assume from your screen name you are located in New Jersey. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for a registered nurse in the Garden State is $37.00 per hour or $76,000 per year. I know the cost of living in NJ is higher than in some states, but I have lived there myself. I didn't make anywhere near even the $60,000 that a licensed practical nurse can make and I didn't live in "the ghetto" (how I hate that rude terminology) and there is no way almost any type of nursing job would be eligible for food stamps, even if you would lower yourself to take them. Even if you are not at the peak salary for a nurse (which is much higher than $76,000), or you are some other kind of nurse, it's unlikely you would be "starving" without a second job, unless you indulge in a very exclusive diet.
If you choose to work 60 hours a week, more power to you. But to assume that is possible for every American to do that is absurd. Who would be raising the children for one thing? There aren't even enough crappy jobs for all of us to have three of them
Just for the record, here's how the job site Indeed.com classifies New Jersey nurse's salaries. LPN Salary in New Jersey | Indeed.com
Well,we all know Indeed overinflates salaries.No field RN nurse is making that much.
I'm an hourly Rn,and I make 27.50/hr on one job.
The other is $30.00. I do work a job that is known for low hr pay for nurses,but Its ok.
Also,my hours could be cut at anytime(I'm prn on one job,and if your home care pt is sick,too bad,you can't work,and if you don't work,you don't get paid.
Go back to the Nj board,and yes,since you moved years ago,the price of housing has jumped.
Don't believe me? Take a look at Craigslist.
A 3 bedroom in Newark,yes Newark, is $1400 per month. The ghetto.
Car insurance.....$250/month,and yes I have a clean record.
When I was an lpn many yrs ago in 2005,I made $40,000 that yr. Yes,I qualified for food stamps.
There were nurses at the hospital telling me they were eligible for WiC.
Any other questions?
I really hope you know 76000 doesn't really mean 76,000.
More like 53,000...how do I know? I'm viewing my paystub right now.
I made 82,440,but grossed 56,377 from one job.
I get that some jobs want you to be on call.
Some days my agency asks if I want to work ab extra day(but I am working on the other job) I just say no.
Now,I do understand Nj seems to have lenient employers,so maybe I should have thought about that before I typed the second job thing.
In Nc,the psych hospital employer expected us to be on call,without extra pay,and I said we need $ if we are going to be on call....I was fired.
In the 3 states I've been to,employers in Nj seem to have a laid back attitude.
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OK. But if you're going to spend 2 years there, don't complain about your minimum wage, when it doesn't take 2 years to move up at least one position or even 2 positions. No one said you have to be there for the rest of your life, but while you're there, get your ass to work and earn a promotion or quit yer b&tchng. 
