5 ms·

So this job pays $12/hr. Which is $1,555.05/month after tax, assuming 40hr work week. And the average 1-bed apartment rents in North Charleston, SC is roughly $

So this job pays $12/hr. Which is $1,555.05/month after tax, assuming 40hr work week. And the average 1-bed apartment rents in North Charleston, SC is roughly $1100/month (according to Zillow), leaving the employee $450/month to cover all food + medical + debt + transit + utilities and any other expenses. I can't imagine why no one is taking the position. It sounds like a fulfilling opportunity to install auto glass while living on the poverty line. It's like employers don't even attempt to think about anything from the employee's perspective -- even after they've struggled to fill their own positions. "Cheap business owners" couldn't be a more accurate byline.

knz 10y ago
> "Cheap business owners" couldn't be a more accurate byline. There have been a number of headlines recently about how corporate profits are near record highs. Isn't paying employees enough to buy the product considered capitalism 101?
- diyorgasms 10y ago
  That's the Fordist school of thought, which is not universally accepted. Labor unions and employee protections have been weakened to the point that the working class has the choice to either work for subsistence wages or die of starvation/exposure.
cbdfghh 10y ago
>It's like employers don't even attempt to think about anything from the employee's perspective -- even after they've struggled to fill their own positions. "Cheap business owners" couldn't be a more accurate byline. Or maybe the job their trying to fill isn't worth that much to them (the employers, that is)? As an example, let's take a speech-writer for a presidential candidate. Company X (let's say it has 100 billion in the bank) wants a website, so it looks for an SEO firm, but it's cheap and not interested in investing in the website. X doesn't get skilled SEO consultants. X now has three choices - get minimum quality workers, drop the website project or pay more for better workers. Obviously, workers would prefer if X choses 3, but there are times when it just doesn't make sense to do so (or the company doesn't _think_ it needs to do so, and goes out of business): What if a company has a small audience comprised of people who don't find things online. Let's say the company runs a program only senators would use. That's a hundred person market which practically requires personal connection to their staff to make a deal. Hiring someone for $250,000 website is just not worth it. Practically, in a capitalist environment, workers are "contractors" selling themselves. The same way I would not pay for a big-iron computer when all I need is a laptop, companies don't want to pay $200,000 when they can find someone for less.
- whybroke 10y ago
  >Or maybe the job their trying to fill isn't worth that much to them (the employers, that is)? Just imagine the businesses that suddenly become profitable if employers could provide nothing beyond room and board and employees weren't allowed to quit!
  - cbdfghh 10y ago
    >employees weren't allowed to quit In the US you can quit and look for another job, the same way how MS can exit the OS market. The same way MS doesn't leave the OS market (too lucrative), most people don't walk off on their jobs.
    - whybroke 10y ago
      non-compete clause
      - cbdfghh 10y ago
        Not everywhere. CA, for example, doesn't permit them. But companies also have non-compete (or other exclusionary) clauses which are legal outside of anti-trust laws.
MarkMc 10y ago
$12 per hour is somewhat less than the median personal income in the US [1], so I would not expect the auto glass worker to pay median rent. There may also be an option to live in a cheaper area outside North Charleston. I agree it's not a fulfilling job, but I wouldn't characterise it as "living on the poverty line". The job pays $24,000 per year but for a single person the official poverty line is $11,770 [2]. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_Unite... [2] https://aspe.hhs.gov/2015-poverty-guidelines https://aspe.hhs.gov/2015-poverty-guidelines
- seanp2k2 10y ago
  Yeah, and imagine what it's like to make less than $12k and live near any halfway decent city (in economic terms). 4 people to a studio apartment situations are due to stuff like this.
- falcolas 10y ago
  Personally, I'm not sure I'd like to live in a 1 BR apartment where the cost was around half[0] the going rate. Something would have to justify the lower cost - poor condition, a poor neighborhood, a large commute... [0] Based on the recommendation your housing cost you around 30% of your gross income.

knz 10y ago

> "Cheap business owners" couldn't be a more accurate byline. There have been a number of headlines recently about how corporate profits are near record highs. Isn't paying employees enough to buy the product considered capitalism 101?

diyorgasms 10y ago
That's the Fordist school of thought, which is not universally accepted. Labor unions and employee protections have been weakened to the point that the working class has the choice to either work for subsistence wages or die of starvation/exposure.

cbdfghh 10y ago

>It's like employers don't even attempt to think about anything from the employee's perspective -- even after they've struggled to fill their own positions. "Cheap business owners" couldn't be a more accurate byline. Or maybe the job their trying to fill isn't worth that much to them (the employers, that is)? As an example, let's take a speech-writer for a presidential candidate. Company X (let's say it has 100 billion in the bank) wants a website, so it looks for an SEO firm, but it's cheap and not interested in investing in the website. X doesn't get skilled SEO consultants. X now has three choices - get minimum quality workers, drop the website project or pay more for better workers. Obviously, workers would prefer if X choses 3, but there are times when it just doesn't make sense to do so (or the company doesn't _think_ it needs to do so, and goes out of business): What if a company has a small audience comprised of people who don't find things online. Let's say the company runs a program only senators would use. That's a hundred person market which practically requires personal connection to their staff to make a deal. Hiring someone for $250,000 website is just not worth it. Practically, in a capitalist environment, workers are "contractors" selling themselves. The same way I would not pay for a big-iron computer when all I need is a laptop, companies don't want to pay $200,000 when they can find someone for less.

whybroke 10y ago
>Or maybe the job their trying to fill isn't worth that much to them (the employers, that is)? Just imagine the businesses that suddenly become profitable if employers could provide nothing beyond room and board and employees weren't allowed to quit!
- cbdfghh 10y ago
  >employees weren't allowed to quit In the US you can quit and look for another job, the same way how MS can exit the OS market. The same way MS doesn't leave the OS market (too lucrative), most people don't walk off on their jobs.
  - whybroke 10y ago
    non-compete clause
    - cbdfghh 10y ago
      Not everywhere. CA, for example, doesn't permit them. But companies also have non-compete (or other exclusionary) clauses which are legal outside of anti-trust laws.

MarkMc 10y ago

$12 per hour is somewhat less than the median personal income in the US [1], so I would not expect the auto glass worker to pay median rent. There may also be an option to live in a cheaper area outside North Charleston. I agree it's not a fulfilling job, but I wouldn't characterise it as "living on the poverty line". The job pays $24,000 per year but for a single person the official poverty line is $11,770 [2]. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_Unite... [2] https://aspe.hhs.gov/2015-poverty-guidelines https://aspe.hhs.gov/2015-poverty-guidelines

seanp2k2 10y ago
Yeah, and imagine what it's like to make less than $12k and live near any halfway decent city (in economic terms). 4 people to a studio apartment situations are due to stuff like this.
falcolas 10y ago
Personally, I'm not sure I'd like to live in a 1 BR apartment where the cost was around half[0] the going rate. Something would have to justify the lower cost - poor condition, a poor neighborhood, a large commute... [0] Based on the recommendation your housing cost you around 30% of your gross income.