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Some of the numbers were interesting on the charts that Jeepers posted. There was population per island based on gender and each of the outer islands had slightly more males than females. Yet the overall statewide gender is biased towards females. Does that mean there are loads more females than males on Oahu?
Some of the numbers were interesting on the charts that Jeepers posted. There was population per island based on gender and each of the outer islands had slightly more males than females. Yet the overall statewide gender is biased towards females. Does that mean there are loads more females than males on Oahu?
They show the chart for Honolulu county as having more males than females which supposedly covers the entire island of Oahu. There is definitely something wrong with their math if the state wide chart is a sum of the 4 counties.
On compensation- Minimum Wage Exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act
In addition to any Hawaii-specific minimum wage exemptions described above, the Federal Fair Labor Standards act defines special minimum wage rates applicable to certain types of workers.
Hawaii Under 20 Minimum Wage - $4.25 - Federal law allows any employer in Hawaii to pay a new employee who is under 20 years of age a training wage of $4.25 per hour for the first 90 days of employment.
Hawaii Student Minimum Wage - $6.16 - Full-time high school or college students who work part-time may be paid 85% of the Hawaii minimum wage (as little as $6.16 per hour) for up to 20 hours of work at certain employers.
Hawaii Tipped Minimum Wage - $7.00 - Employees who earn a certain amount of tips every month may be paid a special cash minimum wage, but must earn at least $7.25 including tips every hour. For more details, read about the Hawaii tipped wage.
HI Overtime Wage
$10.88/hr
Daily Hours: N/A
Weekly Hours: 40
All workers who put in over 40 weekly hours are entitled to a minimum wage of at least 1.5 times the regular applicable minimum wage (learn more about overtime pay in Hawaii). Some states require workers who work over a certain number of daily hours to be eligible for this overtime rate as well (Hawaii does not have a daily overtime limit).
The FLSA guarantees all HI employees adequate overtime compensation for all qualifying overtime hours worked. If your employer does not pay adequate overtime wages, you can file an unpaid overtime claim with the Hawaii Department of Labor.
On compensation- Minimum Wage Exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act
In addition to any Hawaii-specific minimum wage exemptions described above, the Federal Fair Labor Standards act defines special minimum wage rates applicable to certain types of workers.
Hawaii Under 20 Minimum Wage - $4.25 - Federal law allows any employer in Hawaii to pay a new employee who is under 20 years of age a training wage of $4.25 per hour for the first 90 days of employment.
Hawaii Student Minimum Wage - $6.16 - Full-time high school or college students who work part-time may be paid 85% of the Hawaii minimum wage (as little as $6.16 per hour) for up to 20 hours of work at certain employers.
Hawaii Tipped Minimum Wage - $7.00 - Employees who earn a certain amount of tips every month may be paid a special cash minimum wage, but must earn at least $7.25 including tips every hour. For more details, read about the Hawaii tipped wage.
HI Overtime Wage
$10.88/hr
Daily Hours: N/A
Weekly Hours: 40
All workers who put in over 40 weekly hours are entitled to a minimum wage of at least 1.5 times the regular applicable minimum wage (learn more about overtime pay in Hawaii). Some states require workers who work over a certain number of daily hours to be eligible for this overtime rate as well (Hawaii does not have a daily overtime limit).
The FLSA guarantees all HI employees adequate overtime compensation for all qualifying overtime hours worked. If your employer does not pay adequate overtime wages, you can file an unpaid overtime claim with the Hawaii Department of Labor.
If you make at least $23,600 and are exempt (for instance, a programmer working for a salary) - FLSA does not apply to you. No overtime.
Six-figure jobs are available on Oahu - much less so on the other islands.
The challenge for any newcomer is getting one of those jobs. Employers are extremely wary about anyone who relocates to Hawaii - they know statistically that almost 9 of 10 leave within 2 years. There also isn't a shortage of professional skills in Oahu - so hiring a local isn't difficult.
Hawaii for professional type jobs that require a college degree is often a who you know scenario. Knowing someone in Hawaii who can get you an introduction often will get you in the door. Work your linkedin contacts.
There is no getting around the compensation is lousy here. The pay is low because of the cost of doing business here and well, because they can. I'm sure an economist could elaborate better than I can.
I make half of what I made in the SF Bay area - and my comp is what I was making on the mainland 15 years ago. It is what it is.
Good to know about the emphasis on networking to get through the door. I'm still puzzled by this statement though:
"There also isn't a shortage of professional skills in Oahu - so hiring a local isn't difficult."
Places like Silicon Valley can produce well trained professionals like embedded engineers or data center architects because of the whole educational and industrial infrastructure in the area - ex. test labs, electronics factories, home to data center players, etc. Same I guess for the financial industry vis a vis cities like NY and HK. Cities like Seattle would still need those professionals but may need to supplement and recruit from outside. How is it that Honolulu would be an exception? Granted that demand would not be the same level, but companies who operate and service customers there would still require those background and skills - ex. hardware field engineers, SAN engineers, SAP developers, or professionals for banking and investment houses. Cant imagine local professionals being idle or working under-employed in Oahu to make them that readily available when those skills, even though they are not highly specialized, were most likely acquired not in Oahu just like the case for Seattle. I dont disagree that they would get paid less in HI to apply the same skills but hard to imagine the claim that a steady supply of local candidates for the same professional skill levels are so readily available when they are not major industries of a given area.
Good to know about the emphasis on networking to get through the door. I'm still puzzled by this statement though:
"There also isn't a shortage of professional skills in Oahu - so hiring a local isn't difficult."
Places like Silicon Valley can produce well trained professionals like embedded engineers or data center architects because of the whole educational and industrial infrastructure in the area - ex. test labs, electronics factories, home to data center players, etc. Same I guess for the financial industry vis a vis cities like NY and HK. Cities like Seattle would still need those professionals but may need to supplement and recruit from outside. How is it that Honolulu would be an exception? Granted that demand would not be the same level, but companies who operate and service customers there would still require those background and skills - ex. hardware field engineers, SAN engineers, SAP developers, or professionals for banking and investment houses. Cant imagine local professionals being idle or working under-employed in Oahu to make them that readily available when those skills, even though they are not highly specialized, were most likely acquired not in Oahu just like the case for Seattle. I dont disagree that they would get paid less in HI to apply the same skills but hard to imagine the claim that a steady supply of local candidates for the same professional skill levels are so readily available when they are not major industries of a given area.
Honolulu is a large diverse city of nearly a million people. Lawyers, investment bankers, insurance salesmen, yep - we got them all and no shortage of them.
IT Skills are aquired by: People went to school and were hired by companies such as Hawaiian Airlines, Bank of Hawaii, or smaller companies. They get their skills, experience, and certifications as any other place. Lot's of locals leave Hawaii and come back - we call them returning Hawaiians. The person who runs the local IBM office here is someone who fits that category.
Also, a lot of things are outsourced here - those hotels here, they don't have datacenters here, they aren't using SAP developers, they either use the corporate system or outsource it. SAN engineers - we have them, we find them - their isn't a huge demand for them.
Honolulu is a large diverse city of nearly a million people. Lawyers, investment bankers, insurance salesmen, yep - we got them all and no shortage of them.
IT Skills are aquired by: People went to school and were hired by companies such as Hawaiian Airlines, Bank of Hawaii, or smaller companies. They get their skills, experience, and certifications as any other place. Lot's of locals leave Hawaii and come back - we call them returning Hawaiians. The person who runs the local IBM office here is someone who fits that category.
Also, a lot of things are outsourced here - those hotels here, they don't have datacenters here, they aren't using SAP developers, they either use the corporate system or outsource it. SAN engineers - we have them, we find them - their isn't a huge demand for them.
Well, I dont really see Hawaiian Airlines, Bank of Hawaii, or smaller companies as places you acquire skills to be an embedded engineer fresh from school or something you get certified for. That's where Silicon Valley's whole virtuous circle comes to play(i.e. R&D companies with easy access to the whole supply chain for testing and prototyping, fresh grads getting their hands wet at some point progressing to more experienced roles, etc). The skills can then be a requirement for experienced hardware field engineering positions needed to service customers in HI, ex. military contracts. Nor does having a million diverse people logically imply sufficient supply of every possible professional skills(Singapore with 5 million people - and half the size of Oahu at that - comes to mind). But maybe those are off the main point since it looks like we do agree that many people do go somewhere else to get the skills they want:
whtviper1: "Lot's of locals leave Hawaii and come back - we call them returning Hawaiians."
When I said local professionals I meant in the context of candidates applying from within HI for the new jobs. Returning "locals"(Hawaiians) to me are also remote candidates (and I admit have better chances at the new jobs based on your other points about local contacts, higher probability of staying more than 1 or 2 years, etc) unless they have already relocated back prior to applying for the new jobs instead of from outside HI. Thus my point:
Me: "Cant imagine local professionals being idle or working under-employed in Oahu to make them that readily available when those skills, even though they are not highly specialized, were most likely acquired not in Oahu just like the case for Seattle."
Outsourcing and use of corporate infrastructure do make a big impact on demand so thanks for pointing those out since that side of the equation certainly cant be ignored.
Well, I dont really see Hawaiian Airlines, Bank of Hawaii, or smaller companies as places you acquire skills to be an embedded engineer fresh from school or something you get certified for. That's where Silicon Valley's whole virtuous circle comes to play(i.e. R&D companies with easy access to the whole supply chain for testing and prototyping, fresh grads getting their hands wet at some point progressing to more experienced roles, etc). The skills can then be a requirement for experienced hardware field engineering positions needed to service customers in HI, ex. military contracts. Nor does having a million diverse people logically imply sufficient supply of every possible professional skills(Singapore with 5 million people - and half the size of Oahu at that - comes to mind). But maybe those are off the main point since it looks like we do agree that many people do go somewhere else to get the skills they want:
whtviper1: "Lot's of locals leave Hawaii and come back - we call them returning Hawaiians."
When I said local professionals I meant in the context of candidates applying from within HI for the new jobs. Returning "locals"(Hawaiians) to me are also remote candidates (and I admit have better chances at the new jobs based on your other points about local contacts, higher probability of staying more than 1 or 2 years, etc) unless they have already relocated back prior to applying for the new jobs instead of from outside HI. Thus my point:
Me: "Cant imagine local professionals being idle or working under-employed in Oahu to make them that readily available when those skills, even though they are not highly specialized, were most likely acquired not in Oahu just like the case for Seattle."
Outsourcing and use of corporate infrastructure do make a big impact on demand so thanks for pointing those out since that side of the equation certainly cant be ignored.
I'll amend my original statement:
"There also isn't a shortage of professional skills in Oahu - so hiring a local isn't difficult."
There are some professional skills in Hawaii that can be hard to come by - generally, we train those people or hire local from another company. Sometimes, it can take awhile, sometimes not - but we still resist hiring from the mainland except in rare cases unless they are already in Hawaii because of the risk involved.
Even if there's a shortage here, they can hire someone from the mainland for cheap because people will sacrifice to move to Hawaii. There are few GIS people in Hawaii, much less Maui. Yet I applied for a job I was exactly qualified for and had direct experience in, and they hired somebody from New Mexico.
Supply and demand is the reason wages are so low here.
"There also isn't a shortage of professional skills in Oahu - so hiring a local isn't difficult."
There are some professional skills in Hawaii that can be hard to come by - generally, we train those people or hire local from another company. Sometimes, it can take awhile, sometimes not - but we still resist hiring from the mainland except in rare cases unless they are already in Hawaii because of the risk involved.
Quote:
Originally Posted by winkosmosis
Even if there's a shortage here, they can hire someone from the mainland for cheap because people will sacrifice to move to Hawaii. There are few GIS people in Hawaii, much less Maui. Yet I applied for a job I was exactly qualified for and had direct experience in, and they hired somebody from New Mexico.
Supply and demand is the reason wages are so low here.
Appreciate the insights although I guess it's just natural that experiences can still differ for individuals:
whtviper1: "resist hiring from the mainland"
winkosmosis: "hire someone from the mainland for cheap"
I get the general message though to be prepared and expect for the worst with regards to employment and the expensive costs in HI.
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