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Sounds like you all got to live the golden days of the economy. Even the 80's was better than the mess we have nowadays. *sigh* I want to be in my 20's 20+years ago...I don't like it now.
I lucked into a really strange, life changing situation. Trust me, that was about as atypical as it gets. If you read my later post, you'll see that the retail job I left to take that one was work with a psychopath and making $5.25 an hour. Things weren't any different then than now.
By the way, in the 80's we were dealing with hyper-inflation and interest rates that were hitting up to 16% for "A" paper mortgages and car loans.
I answered the phone and the voice on the other end said, "Hey yeah, this is Steve, I'm a friend of Al XXXXXX's . I need someone to work at XXXX for me. What's 16 + 16??" When I responded "32" he said, "Cool, be there Thursday at 3:00." Click.
Seriously.
We never talked about what I was going to be doing, let alone what I'd be paid.
I took a shot and showed up.
Ended up working with the guy for the next eight years, One of the best jobs I ever had and he was a fantastic mentor even if he was a bit "off." And I had no complaints about the pay which was around $25/hour--25 years ago.
Read my other posts above. I had been working for $5.25 an hour which was typical for those days. We had hyper-inflation, mortgages and car loans were as high as 16% with perfect credit. That was not a typical job, any more than it was a typical job interview. My former boss/mentor is still running his business, still a bit... well, nuts, and still hiring people the exact same way. He needs someone, he picks up the phone, calls a friend, gets a name and number of someone who might be looking, calls them and tells them when and where to show up for work, and hangs up.
I lucked into a really strange, life changing situation. Trust me, that was about as atypical as it gets. If you read my later post, you'll see that the retail job I left to take that one was work with a psychopath and making $5.25 an hour. Things weren't any different then than now.
By the way, in the 80's we were dealing with hyper-inflation and interest rates that were hitting up to 16% for "A" paper mortgages and car loans.
Retail jobs today pay $7.25 per hour.
$5.25 per hour in 1982 is the equivalent of $10.48 per hour today.
$25 per hour in 1982 is the equivalent of $49.88 per hour today.
Imagine how it feels working with a psychopath for $7.25 in 2012 dollars...
Even in this area with it's lower cost of living, most retail jobs are more than minimum. If you take the median, it's around $11. Almost every retail job (including grocery) offer a monthly or quarterly bonus pool when (achievable) goals are met which adds another $.50 to $2 an hour on average. I'm not saying it's great money, but it's better than nothing. And traditionally retail jobs were filled by housewives looking for some extra cash while the kids were in school, teens, and managers who made higher incomes. If you want retail jobs to pay more, expect the cost of merchandise to rise right long with it. Most merchandisers these days are barely keeping their heads above water, very few are highly profitable.
Even in this area with it's lower cost of living, most retail jobs are more than minimum. If you take the median, it's around $11. Almost every retail job (including grocery) offer a monthly or quarterly bonus pool when (achievable) goals are met which adds another $.50 to $2 an hour on average. I'm not saying it's great money, but it's better than nothing. And traditionally retail jobs were filled by housewives looking for some extra cash while the kids were in school, teens, and managers who made higher incomes. If you want retail jobs to pay more, expect the cost of merchandise to rise right long with it. Most merchandisers these days are barely keeping their heads above water, very few are highly profitable.
u never never know the way the interview goes and who gets hired are not the same.
some of my worst interviews resulted in long time employment. i am often 2nd pick of the draft.
Per the 2010 Census, Florida's COL index is right around the national average.
That said, $11 per hour is the median wage for ALL retail workers. That doesn't represent the entry level wage for retail workers today, even I highly doubt is $10-$11/hr like it was in the mid-1980s.
Per the 2010 Census, Florida's COL index is right around the national average.
That said, $11 per hour is the median wage for ALL retail workers. That doesn't represent the entry level wage for retail workers today, even I highly doubt is $10-$11/hr like it was in the mid-1980s.
The county I live in is a lower COL county. You can rent a nice but not luxury apartment in a decent neighborhood here for $475.
Entry level wages for retail jobs in the mid-80's were in the $3.35-$4.50 range. Federal minimum wage was $3.35 in 1986.
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