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For most folks its paralysis by analysis. They are usually broke, live with parents, have little to no work experience yet balk at jobs being offered to them, that are not 6 figures, but $10/hr lets say. So they sit and they sit waiting for the job Prince to come and rescue them with their dream job. They are up for a rude awakening.
If you're 16-20, just need part-time work, or have someone else who can voluntarily support, $10/hr may be decent.
There's also the reality that if you can get on assistance, you're going to be better off most likely than if you worked for $10/hr. I am from east TN, which is a very conservative area with regard to welfare and assistance, but also has some of the worst poverty in the nation. What jobs there are pay around $10/hr. Most people are on assistance since they get more money, and sell drugs on the side. There's little incentive to work for that pay, especially in high COL or liberal areas.
Not everyone is expecting to work at Google, but most $10/hr jobs are just going to lead to more $10/hr work.
If you're 16-20, just need part-time work, or have someone else who can voluntarily support, $10/hr may be decent.
There's also the reality that if you can get on assistance, you're going to be better off most likely than if you worked for $10/hr. I am from east TN, which is a very conservative area with regard to welfare and assistance, but also has some of the worst poverty in the nation. What jobs there are pay around $10/hr. Most people are on assistance since they get more money, and sell drugs on the side. There's little incentive to work for that pay, especially in high COL or liberal areas.
Not everyone is expecting to work at Google, but most $10/hr jobs are just going to lead to more $10/hr work.
Agreed with everything you said, except the bolded.
It has nothing to do with politics. The poorest states/counties/non-major cities of the country, in fact, are very conservative.
In the end everyone wants to make more and advance. Few want to stay in dead end low paying work.
A friend of mine was laid off from a medical job and I felt bad for her. Yet now she started at a competitor making 20k more! Sometimes the grass really IS greener on the other side. There's nothing wrong with going to another place for more. Take what you can and move on.
One idea I agree with is that Millenials might not be good to hire for low-level jobs because they're always going to be angling to get a better job (within the company or by job hopping or rejoining the educational system to get an advanced degree). That's totally true, because we all were brainwashed into believing that our destiny is 6-figure desk jobs that "use" our college and are fun and exciting. We're going to spend our entire 20s competing for the good jobs that are available. Don't expect us to be reliable workers if the job isn't good. We all expect to work at Google.
You're not entitled to a good job but you are entitled to an ambition of having a good job and following through with the efforts to try to achieve this goal.
...we all were brainwashed into believing that our destiny is 6-figure desk jobs that "use" our college and are fun and exciting.
I'm Gen X. I was told the same thing.
Came close to 6-figures (when you combine compensation and benefits) in the late 1990s when I lived in NYC. Now I'm nowhere near the possibility. But I love what I'm doing much more.
For most folks its paralysis by analysis. They are usually broke, live with parents, have little to no work experience yet balk at jobs being offered to them, that are not 6 figures, but $10/hr lets say. So they sit and they sit waiting for the job Prince to come and rescue them with their dream job. They are up for a rude awakening.
The issue isn't that they are balking at jobs offered to us. The issue is that the jobs being offered to use would STILL have us living in our parents basements.
"birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s."
I ask because I was coming of age when my generation had no moniker. Suddenly they called us Gen Xers and then the advertisers took the term away from us and called the folks 10 years younger Gen Xers and then lately they call me a late year boomer and I just can't stomach that.
So gen names are relative and not always accurate.
"low-level jobs" hmm, well I guess it depends on the job and what you mean. Many low-level jobs are meant to be stayed in for a couple years and move on from, and so many can do those jobs and it fits what you say you need too.
I think it has to do more with personality. My husband has a bro and he and his wife like blue collar factory jobs. It fits their personalities and I am glad there are folks who like that. My Mom was big on doing low skilled jobs because her personality was fear based and she liked low, steady money. My brother came out just like her and he did skilled and unskilled blue collar jobs even though he had a Masters degree! He preferred it. I have to say I loved my bro but he has issues. My dad same gen as my Mom got a doctorate cause he loves Chemistry. So go figure.
Me and my husband about a decade younger than his bro and wife like creative and tech jobs. Yet we have friends that are also creative people and do blue collar, proff or even Janitor jobs. Sometimes peace of mind is all one wants.
I frankly find striving for a lot of money boring. If it dropped in my lap tho I'd take it.
This is an extreme you're trying to put forth. $10/hr is 19,200/year. In my area as a single person 24% of that is gone in taxes which leaves you at a little over $1200 a month. I have no idea where you reside but that's not something I aspire to make in order to sustain myself.
Nope, not an extreme at all. It’s of course true that it’s not a salary that anyone aspires to make but if it’s a position that can be built upon or used to educate (which most every position can), well then it can be valuable long term. It’s a sacrifice and risk one should be willing to take, especially early in one’s career. When I got out of college (long time ago), I took a pretty low paying job working with others (many older women) that had a high school diploma. I knew it wouldn’t get me anywhere (the owner even told me it’s a dead end job for someone like me) but I learned things from it, and in indirect ways it helped me get to where I am today.
It’s not a generational issue I think, it’s an age issue. Young people are more focused on the short term and have a hard time squeezing value from jobs that look like cr@p on the surface, but can teach them about how to deal with people, how a process works, or many other things. Many who now have well paying and rewarding careers worked those $10/hr jobs and learned from them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shayla2go
Most of my generation don't want 6 figure salaries from the beginning but we do want to be able to get somewhere comfortable in life.
Actually, I’d bet that most of your generation DO want 6 figure salaries from the beginning.
Getting somewhere comfortable in life is a process, a journey. You need to scratch and claw for it, you need to learn things in order to get there, you need to be patient, you need to be perceptive, you need to take smart risks, you need to capitalize when an opportunity or lucky break is presented and convert on it, you need to think hard about where that $10/hr job may take you, you need to think about how to squeeze value out of that $10/hr job and to make something out of it.
The issue I’ve seen with some young people is apathy. They aren’t resilient. Life beats them down or doesn’t give them 60k/yr out of college and they lay in bed, defeated and feeling like a failure. Life beat me down and I got angry, and learned patience. I worked, I learned, I rose back up– slowly and painfully. I’m not even close to done – I know that I’ll be beaten down many more times and what I have now and the run I’ve had for the last few years won’t last. I’m preparing for it so I can get through the next stage of my life and career in good shape. All the stages are difficult – either financially or for some other reason. It’s funny but thinking back, the days when I was in my 20’s and making a low wage and owned nothing and could afford even less, those were the most carefree times of my life. Enjoy it.
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Best of luck
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