Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm curious if those, like the unit secretary, have opportunity to earn bonuses or other financial incentives beyond a regular paycheck. I would guess not.
I work at UPMC and actually generate money for the company by billing hours to the insurance company for my time with patients; if my (or my coworkers') billable productivity time is 45% or 75% the compensation is the same and get the same 3% raise every year, regardless of patient outcome or the number of hours billed or other factors concerning job performance. Of course the emphasis is on being productive, but it is blatantly obvious to anyone who has been there for several years that whether you are highly productive (and it's easy to measure because of the direct nature of billing for service units, compared to, say, a janitor, etc.), just marginal, or even a little bit of a slacker your reward is the same - a steady paycheck.
It is a specialized kind of environment with strong emphasis on "credentials", so unless workers seek licenses, certifications, or other kinds of professional development there is not much mobility just for doing your job well, so I can sympathize for those who feel stuck at the bottom. If I, though relatively low on the totem pole but still explicitly tasked with racking up billable hours for the company, don't see any real financial incentives thrown my way I feel bad for file clerks and other workers whose jobs the higher ups would probably love to automate or outsource to reduce costs even further.
The debate how how little or how much to pay relatively low skilled employees will never completely go away. There will always be those willing to rely on plain arithmetical formulas to determine compensation for those on the bottom but become sentimental and a bit charmed and mesmerized by those at top when trying to figure out what is 'fair market'. You can sum up the top 20 guys at UPMC and it's still small potatoes compared to what some make each year. The only way to really remedy that is strong tax and other policies that prudently protect wider and more common interests of the American worker, but I better stop talking before straying too far from UPMC and their food bank.
I have lost all sympathy for Ms. Poston now that I see she makes more per hour than I do, and I'm a college-educated financial professional. I'll admit I don't live lavishly by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't ever worry about going hungry. Living with a roommate helps, and I'd recommend Ms. Poston does the same. I really wish Pittsburgh's employers paid more to compensate for the rising cost-of-living here, but short of a widespread labor rebellion I don't foresee that happening. Right now the aura seems to be "just be thankful you have a job at all".
I have lost all sympathy for Ms. Poston now that I see she makes more per hour than I do, and I'm a college-educated financial professional. I'll admit I don't live lavishly by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't ever worry about going hungry. Living with a roommate helps, and I'd recommend Ms. Poston does the same. I really wish Pittsburgh's employers paid more to compensate for the rising cost-of-living here, but short of a widespread labor rebellion I don't foresee that happening. Right now the aura seems to be "just be thankful you have a job at all".
LOL. This is how divide and conquer works in a nutshell. No matter how ****ty of a life a person has, I perceive it as being better than me, so rather than defend that person, I will instead take up for the government and economic system that allows for us both to suffer and have the income gap grow wider and wider, destroying any and all economic security for the average man and woman. And this is how nothing ever improves in this country. Yawn.
I mean really, you can't be serious. It's just so self-centered and lacks all empathy for anyone in a different place in life than you. There are several problems with your post. For one, it's irrelevant these days that you have a college degree. They're a dime a dozen, and little better these days than going around bragging that you have a HS diploma. You're not more special than her because you have one. She might have one, I don't believe it says anywhere. Secondly, a million college grads stuck working fast food and Walmart right now could cry out and tell you to quit all your whining about your search for house ownership and other problems because they have it much worse than you. How far down that rabbit hole do you want to go? Maybe we can go all the way to the plight of Africans and how a childless white American man in his 20's really has nothing to complain about.
Thirdly, maybe this will shock and amaze you but... you are much younger than her. She has decades of work experience on you. Fourthly, she has children. She has at least two, since the Post-Gazette talks of her having a family of four. Either that's three kids, or there's a spouse (Post-Gazette calls her Miss Poston, so it's possibly three kids). That is NOT your life experience. You don't know what that's like, and you won't know for years. And if you're still making the exact same as you are now, or maybe a $1 or $2 more an hour, you'll have a better sense of what poverty with children in tow is like.
I have lost all sympathy for Ms. Poston now that I see she makes more per hour than I do, and I'm a college-educated financial professional. I'll admit I don't live lavishly by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't ever worry about going hungry. Living with a roommate helps, and I'd recommend Ms. Poston does the same. I really wish Pittsburgh's employers paid more to compensate for the rising cost-of-living here, but short of a widespread labor rebellion I don't foresee that happening. Right now the aura seems to be "just be thankful you have a job at all".
You know times are tough all over when financial professionals earn less than secretaries (or whatever it is that she does).
LOL. This is how divide and conquer works in a nutshell. No matter how ****ty of a life a person has, I perceive it as being better than me, so rather than defend that person, I will instead take up for the government and economic system that allows for us both to suffer and have the income gap grow wider and wider, destroying any and all economic security for the average man and woman. And this is how nothing ever improves in this country. Yawn.
I mean really, you can't be serious. It's just so self-centered and lacks all empathy for anyone in a different place in life than you. There are several problems with your post. For one, it's irrelevant these days that you have a college degree. They're a dime a dozen, and little better these days than going around bragging that you have a HS diploma. You're not more special than her because you have one. She might have one, I don't believe it says anywhere. Secondly, a million college grads stuck working fast food and Walmart right now could cry out and tell you to quit all your whining about your search for house ownership and other problems because they have it much worse than you. How far down that rabbit hole do you want to go? Maybe we can go all the way to the plight of Africans and how a childless white American man in his 20's really has nothing to complain about.
Thirdly, maybe this will shock and amaze you but... you are much younger than her. She has decades of work experience on you. Fourthly, she has children. She has at least two, since the Post-Gazette talks of her having a family of four. Either that's three kids, or there's a spouse (Post-Gazette calls her Miss Poston, so it's possibly three kids). That is NOT your life experience. You don't know what that's like, and you won't know for years. And if you're still making the exact same as you are now, or maybe a $1 or $2 more an hour, you'll have a better sense of what poverty with children in tow is like.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clint.
You know times are tough all over when financial professionals earn less than secretaries (or whatever it is that she does).
Clint's reply may be a bit tongue in cheek, but he does have a point. If anyone should be outraged over compensation it should be someone who is entrusted with people's finances who is earning less per hour (and has worse benefits, may I add) than someone who likely spends her day filing and answering the phone. On the contrary I feel grateful to have the position I currently have, despite the horrible compensation, because I cling to the promise of better opportunity in the future. Has Ms. Poston even attempted to pursue upwardly mobile positions within UPMC, using her multiple years of job experience and performance reviews as support?
Do we know why Ms. (Mrs.?) Poston has kids and has no father/husband in the picture? Did he pass away? If so, then she has my sympathies. If she chose to have children with someone out of wedlock who then left her I can't say I understand why she feels as if UPMC should compensate her more so that she can help care for her fatherless children.
Ms. Poston likely did not go to college. I did. My monthly student loan payment obligations of several hundred dollars are likely comparable to how much she spends monthly to help care for her children, so don't imply that I'm necessarily much better off economically than a secretary who earns more than I do. You've had it out for me lately, sparrowmint, and I'd love to know why. I'd truly love to know where I mentioned my housing search in this thread, and I'd love to know why that was relevant here.
Clint's reply may be a bit tongue in cheek, but he does have a point. If anyone should be outraged over compensation it should be someone who is entrusted with people's finances who is earning less per hour (and has worse benefits, may I add) than someone who likely spends her day filing and answering the phone. On the contrary I feel grateful to have the position I currently have, despite the horrible compensation, because I cling to the promise of better opportunity in the future. Has Ms. Poston even attempted to pursue upwardly mobile positions within UPMC, using her multiple years of job experience and performance reviews as support?
Do we know why Ms. (Mrs.?) Poston has kids and has no father/husband in the picture? Did he pass away? If so, then she has my sympathies. If she chose to have children with someone out of wedlock who then left her I can't say I understand why she feels as if UPMC should compensate her more so that she can help care for her fatherless children.
Ms. Poston likely did not go to college. I did. My monthly student loan payment obligations of several hundred dollars are likely comparable to how much she spends monthly to help care for her children, so don't imply that I'm necessarily much better off economically than a secretary who earns more than I do. You've had it out for me lately, sparrowmint, and I'd love to know why. I'd truly love to know where I mentioned my housing search in this thread, and I'd love to know why that was relevant here.
Times are tough, I certainly understand how its tough for younger people to get good jobs- not that it was ever easy.
But it was a lot harder when I was in my 20's in Pittsburgh during the steel crash and people lined up around the block to apply for jobs at the new West View Park and Parkway Center malls to work at Zayre's , K-mart or Gold Circle. The key for job seekers was to read the death notices and find out where jobs were suddenly unexpectedly vacated.
If a younger person, or anyone for that matter, doesn't like the opportunities here, they can try somewhere else or stick it out here. I've heard folks on the radio saying they've done well to move to North Dakota for good paying jobs.
I have lost all sympathy for Ms. Poston now that I see she makes more per hour than I do, and I'm a college-educated financial professional. I'll admit I don't live lavishly by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't ever worry about going hungry. Living with a roommate helps, and I'd recommend Ms. Poston does the same.
Just because she makes a couple more dollars per hour? The woman is older than you. She has worked for many more years. That extra two dollars per hour is only an extra 4k per year. If Ms. Poston has children, she can't live the same way you do.
Remember, you earned more than her prior to moving here. You're the one who chose to take a step down. You're basically starting over again and you've only got a year under your belt. In the long run, you'll earn more than she does when you are her age.
You know times are tough all over when financial professionals earn less than secretaries (or whatever it is that she does).
That's not uncommon for secretaries and analysts in banking. The funniest thing is many of the young analysts treat the secretaries like they are lower class. Meanwhile, the secretaries earn more, and they know they earn more because they know what EVERYONE earns in their department. It's quite common in many industries.
Ms. Poston likely did not go to college. I did. My monthly student loan payment obligations of several hundred dollars are likely comparable to how much she spends monthly
You'd be surprised who has college degrees. Even you had a degree when you were delivering flowers. She may have the same student loan payments for one of those useless bachelors degrees in psychology, art, literature, etc.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wow. I am at a loss for words.
