Paul? Robbery at Lowes? (Harrisburg: buy, college, salary)

[InfectedMushroom]

LOL that sounds like something you would see on some tv show.

[DE_NePA]

Scranbarre wrote

"...albeit a much lower-paying one since the salaries around here are FAR lower than they SHOULD be)...(i.e. the local employers are cheap and didn't want to adequately compensate someone of his experience level and education)"

" If you're being asked by three different associates in ten minutes if you need help with anything, you're probably going to feel less inclined to do anything shady knowing there are so many "eyes" around."


Paul - you need to take some business courses, so you understand the numbers your accounting courses teach you how to add and classify. Employers pay market rates, they don't pay more than they need to pay to get the level of skill and experience they require. That's true every where. It doesn't matter if you have more experience than what they feel the job requires, and it doesn't matter if that level of experience gets you a higher wage in any market, local or remote. As for theft, it's simple math. If the shrinkage costs less than the extra manpower that would be needed to prevent it (accounting for extra sales due to that manpower, even), then you don't hire the manpower. In both cases, you don't invest more than the investment will return, whether you can afford to or not.

[Summering]

If a lot of sales people are wandering around me. If they all keep asking me if I need help.......
I find myself leaving the store. Like one store I just walked out of in the Coastal Grand Mall.
I saw one glance at my pocketbook. Not all that large, but not so small..........then she was just around me way too much. I left. I have never liked being overly watched. It is not comfortable in the least. I maybe would have bought the bracelet I looked at......but, I just wanted out.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by DE_NePA

Scranbarre wrote

"...albeit a much lower-paying one since the salaries around here are FAR lower than they SHOULD be)...(i.e. the local employers are cheap and didn't want to adequately compensate someone of his experience level and education)"

" If you're being asked by three different associates in ten minutes if you need help with anything, you're probably going to feel less inclined to do anything shady knowing there are so many "eyes" around."


Paul - you need to take some business courses, so you understand the numbers your accounting courses teach you how to add and classify. Employers pay market rates, they don't pay more than they need to pay to get the level of skill and experience they require. That's true every where. It doesn't matter if you have more experience than what they feel the job requires, and it doesn't matter if that level of experience gets you a higher wage in any market, local or remote. As for theft, it's simple math. If the shrinkage costs less than the extra manpower that would be needed to prevent it (accounting for extra sales due to that manpower, even), then you don't hire the manpower. In both cases, you don't invest more than the investment will return, whether you can afford to or not.

I beg to differ. Why is it that my father, who has a degree and decades of I/T experience, is earning a salary the equivalent to fresh college graduates in many other areas, including the Harrisburg and Lehigh Valley metro areas? NEPA isn't as "dirt cheap" anymore perhaps as we were as recently as the 1990s. Gas prices continue be higher than the national average here. Heating oil prices are likewise high, as are insurance premiums, and housing values continue to rise despite the recession. Groceries most certainly aren't "cheap" here. We're not the "bargain basement" area we used to be (perhaps compared to NE NJ and NYC), yet the salaries haven't risen to reflect that. I know of some of my peers in the accounting realm who have been offered starting salaries in the high-$30k range whereas those same peers were offered the mid-to-high-$50k range in many other areas. Why? Are not these two individuals equally capable and skilled to perform the same job functions? Why the disparity? Local wages ARE sub-par.

[DE_NePA]

I beg to differ. Why is it that my father, who has a degree and decades of I/T experience, is earning a salary the equivalent to fresh college graduates in many other areas, including the Harrisburg and Lehigh Valley metro areas?

Supply and demand. There are less employers in NEPA that are competing for that skill set than in Harrisburg and Lehigh Valley. Less competition for employees means lower wages. Simple supply and demand, wages in one market are not tied to wages in another, they are irrelevant.


I know of some of my peers in the accounting realm who have been offered starting salaries in the high-$30k range whereas those same peers were offered the mid-to-high-$50k range in many other areas.
Supply and demand, see above.

This issue is, you seem to want to apply a fairness meter to this issue, and there is no fair in business. There is supply and demand. No employer pays anymore than they have to, and they pay different rates for the same job in different markets. If they must compete for scarce skills in a location, they compete with better compensation, which includes, but is not limited to, wages.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

I know of some of my peers in the accounting realm who have been offered starting salaries in the high-$30k range whereas those same peers were offered the mid-to-high-$50k range in many other areas. Why? Are not these two individuals equally capable and skilled to perform the same job functions? Why the disparity? Local wages ARE sub-par.

You'll never get it until you move around the country and live in different areas. Not everything costs the same as Scranton PA. But it's hard to understand that until you actually pay it out of your own pocket.

$55K in DC or San Fran is like earning minimum wage. $37K in PA outside of Philly or Pitt is pretty good living for a graduate.

Also like mentioned it's supply and demand. Some parts of the country are lacking certain skills, others are not.

In regards to your dad if he has that much experience he should be offering it up as a consultant to businesses. When you work FOR other people you never earn top dollar.

[PurpleCat]

Grrr, I don't know why the "quote" didn't work, but anyway...

Paul said, "...kill customers with overbearing customer service. If you're being asked by three different associates in ten minutes if you need help with anything, you're probably going to feel less inclined to do anything shady knowing there are so many "eyes" around."

Yes, yes, yes!! At my store, we were taught to greet EVERRRYONE! I mean, obviously because it was "The Disney Store" and we were supposed to be perky and friendly, lol, but also because it builds a rapport with the guest! AND it deters theft! It absolutely helps! On days when we had enough Cast Members on the floor to greet and guest service, it was WAY easier to keep tabs on guests in the store! Versus those awful days when you're the ONLY ONE working; trying to ring someone up, answer questions about park passes, grab the phone when it's ringing, clean up when the store gets messy, and keep an eye on the whole store?? NO WAY!!

And don't get me started on the teenage brats that played this "game" where they had to try to get to the back wall of the store and touch it without getting greeted by a Cast Member. I would always stop what I was doing and yell across the store to them, "HI, HOW ARE YOU TODAY" because they thought they were so funny and that we had no idea what they were up to. At least they weren't stealing though. But they DID ruin our conversion, lol.

[returningtonepa???]

paul has many good points---things here are waaay over priced for the area and MOST PROFESSIONAL SALARIES DO NOT MATCH THOSE IN OTHER AREAS=====cost of housing here is very slightly cheaper and sub par to many areas(excluding inner areas in ny and philly)

had i known that as i do now,i would have stayed where i was!

[John From Scranton]

Originally Posted by wanneroo

You'll never get it until you move around the country and live in different areas. Not everything costs the same as Scranton PA. But it's hard to understand that until you actually pay it out of your own pocket.

$55K in DC or San Fran is like earning minimum wage. $37K in PA outside of Philly or Pitt is pretty good living for a graduate.

Also like mentioned it's supply and demand. Some parts of the country are lacking certain skills, others are not.

In regards to your dad if he has that much experience he should be offering it up as a consultant to businesses. When you work FOR other people you never earn top dollar.

Well with that said... When I was growing up I didnt think much about the cost of living.. As many kids these days still don't.. One is on easy street in till mommy and daddy isnt forking over the bucks anymore... Life is not what you put on paper or type on a website, life is getting out in the real world and dealing with real world problems on your OWN!

[mathjak107]

starting pay right out of school here in nyc for an accountant is 75-80,000...
my daughter inlaw got hired by one of the big firms here when she graduated.... she was there 2 years and now works for a hedge fund and gets 100,000 plus....

50k in new york is almost an un-skilled labor position