Top 10 reasons not to move to PHX (Phoenix, Mesa: salary, estate)

[phxgreenfire]

Originally Posted by Ritchie_az

The key phrase in your post is "relevant jobs to me". There are tons of job opportunities here that are relevant to the folks who will eventually be hired for them. In other words, for the jobs that are relevant to you, it is either the wrong profession for Phoenix (for example, I could not have done my last job in Phoenix because there are literally zero jobs here in that profession) or you do not have enough qualifications for the relevant jobs within your profession that are here.

It's exactly as I stated it in the post of mine you quoted.

And of course, too high of competition for the open jobs. I really don't know how many people in this city are in my field, but if you look at CareerBuilder it gauges how popular some jobs are. More people seem to be applying for a job in my industry here than are in other cities... meaning it's more competitive. Ironically, the pay is not. The odd thing is that it's not like I'm in marine biology or nautical engineering or any obvious thing that's nonexistent here, it's just the lack of economic diversity. And again, the ones that are here pay significantly less than the average pay; i.e. ~$25K-$28K here vs. $53K national average.

[kdog]

Originally Posted by phxgreenfire

More people seem to be applying for a job in my industry here than are in other cities... meaning it's more competitive. Ironically, the pay is not.

No, that's not ironic at all. Too many applicants and too few jobs drives down salaries, not up.

[Ritchie_az]

Originally Posted by phxgreenfire

it's just the lack of economic diversity.

I think every city has some "lack of economic diversity" to an extent. Obviously some more than others. Even L.A. and New York City do not have every single profession. I think it is silly to think any one city would have an abundance of every career field. This city doesn't have a large presence of whatever profession you are in, but that doesn't equate to a lack of economic diversity. I bet 95%+ of all career fields in the U.S. have some sort of presence in Phoenix--some more than others, and some less than others. Like all cities, some career fields have more of a presence and some have less. In my profession, there is a slightly elevated presence. Yours? Not so much.
That's just the way it is.

[EnicAZ]

phxgreenfire,

"And of course, too high of competition for the open jobs. I really don't know how many people in this city are in my field, but if you look at CareerBuilder it gauges how popular some jobs are. More people seem to be applying for a job in my industry here than are in other cities... meaning it's more competitive. Ironically, the pay is not. The odd thing is that it's not like I'm in marine biology or nautical engineering or any obvious thing that's nonexistent here, it's just the lack of economic diversity. And again, the ones that are here pay significantly less than the average pay; i.e. ~$25K-$28K here vs. $53K national average."

I did see that Phoenix was ranked 28th out of 32 for wages of comparable occupations by Career Builder. It is a problem, in people trying to get ahead when $12 an hour is considered a "good job" here. It is something we need to continue to work on, but I don't see how there is going to be progress for a long time.

[PhoenixAirConcerns]

Originally Posted by kdog

No, that's not ironic at all. Too many applicants and too few jobs drives down salaries, not up.

This is why we are in a deflationary spiral, just like Japan in the 1990's. For example, their wages and real estate prices just kept dropping and have not even inched back 20 years later. I'm pretty concerned for our future.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by EnicAZ

phxgreenfire,

"And of course, too high of competition for the open jobs. I really don't know how many people in this city are in my field, but if you look at CareerBuilder it gauges how popular some jobs are. More people seem to be applying for a job in my industry here than are in other cities... meaning it's more competitive. Ironically, the pay is not. The odd thing is that it's not like I'm in marine biology or nautical engineering or any obvious thing that's nonexistent here, it's just the lack of economic diversity. And again, the ones that are here pay significantly less than the average pay; i.e. ~$25K-$28K here vs. $53K national average."

I did see that Phoenix was ranked 28th out of 32 for wages of comparable occupations by Career Builder. It is a problem, in people trying to get ahead when $12 an hour is considered a "good job" here. It is something we need to continue to work on, but I don't see how there is going to be progress for a long time.

Originally Posted by PhoenixAirConcerns

This is why we are in a deflationary spiral, just like Japan in the 1990's. For example, their wages and real estate prices just kept dropping and have not even inched back 20 years later. I'm pretty concerned for our future.

Lol... At the generalized statement that 11 an hour is a good wage. Someone can typically make 10 to 13 in a call center. 50 to 70k a year with experience with a degree in medical or IT, specifically programming for it.

[EnicAZ]

Ritch and phxgreenfire:

"it's just the lack of economic diversity."

This is a major reason why Phoenix has been hit so bad so far this recession. Our state economy was based too much on a vulerable thing, and it came back to bit us. Increased diversification, is the name of the game, but it is very hard to do.

[PhoenixAirConcerns]

Originally Posted by phxgreenfire

And of course, too high of competition for the open jobs. I really don't know how many people in this city are in my field, but if you look at CareerBuilder it gauges how popular some jobs are. More people seem to be applying for a job in my industry here than are in other cities... meaning it's more competitive. Ironically, the pay is not. The odd thing is that it's not like I'm in marine biology or nautical engineering or any obvious thing that's nonexistent here, it's just the lack of economic diversity. And again, the ones that are here pay significantly less than the average pay; i.e. ~$25K-$28K here vs. $53K national average.

It's going to stay rough. I just had another neighbor move out back to Indiana on my street. She said they got a job back from close to where their family lives around Indianapolis. They had been struggling here ever since they came 4 years ago. They were unhappy about some other things too, but the lack of income was one of the biggest.

[phxgreenfire]

Originally Posted by kdog

No, that's not ironic at all. Too many applicants and too few jobs drives down salaries, not up.

It is ironic when you consider they're offering wages that would make it hard for most people to want to stay at that company. The pay I've seen for my field in other cities is much higher... and cost of living be damned, I'd still be better off all around there than here in financial terms.

Originally Posted by Ritchie_az

I think every city has some "lack of economic diversity" to an extent. Obviously some more than others. Even L.A. and New York City do not have every single profession. I think it is silly to think any one city would have an abundance of every career field. This city doesn't have a large presence of whatever profession you are in, but that doesn't equate to a lack of economic diversity. I bet 95%+ of all career fields in the U.S. have some sort of presence in Phoenix--some more than others, and some less than others. Like all cities, some career fields have more of a presence and some have less. In my profession, there is a slightly elevated presence. Yours? Not so much.
That's just the way it is.

Well obviously not every city has every job imaginable. But come on... you can't say Phoenix has an economically diverse climate. International banks? High foreign company presence? World Trade Center? Major media presence? Fortune 500 headquarters? Many international flight options? Phoenix really needs to propel itself onto the global scene, and for the right reasons.

Originally Posted by EnicAZ

I did see that Phoenix was ranked 28th out of 32 for wages of comparable occupations by Career Builder. It is a problem, in people trying to get ahead when $12 an hour is considered a "good job" here. It is something we need to continue to work on, but I don't see how there is going to be progress for a long time.

Thank you! My last employer skipped raises, which was disappointing, but understandable under economic circumstances. I didn't complain, but was pretty upset when they said they were going to "do" something for us, let the suspense build up for a week... then we all got a balloon and cheap plastic pen.

[phxgreenfire]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAirConcerns

It's going to stay rough. I just had another neighbor move out back to Indiana on my street. She said they got a job back from close to where their family lives around Indianapolis. They had been struggling here ever since they came 4 years ago. They were unhappy about some other things too, but the lack of income was one of the biggest.

I agree. If companies here aren't going to pay enough to make people want to stay with them, then I don't see other companies competing with each other to raise wages/salaries for the sake of retention. That's in part why I see I could be making a higher salary somewhere else.