4 ms·

I'm curious what you are defining as 'low-end' jobs? Are we talking people who make 60k a year? 30k? Are we talking about people in their 30s? 40s? 50s?

bane 12y ago
30-40k. U.S. Major Metro Area. In their late 30s, early 40s. Getting on to 20 years of work experience.
- opendais 12y ago
  Hmmm, I make north of 60k. So I'm not sure if I should be concerned...bah. Are you saying they experienced an income drop or just a lack of income increase?
  - bane 12y ago
    Lack of income increase. One guy I know would consider a 60+k job as almost a doubling of his income, which has been more or less fixed for the last 10 years. Which, with inflation, means it's a de facto slow pay reduction. He also really struggles with putting out resumes, 8 solid years of rejections makes him think he's formatting his resume wrong, or not describing his job right. But the little feedback he's gotten is that he's simply not meeting the minimum job requirements. But he's way overqualified on the work experience, just no education credentials. So a firm takes a chance if they hire him that he'll jump ship soon for a better paying gig more commensurate to his experience level, or they hope that his experience was complete enough to fill in the gaps that a solid education would provide...but why take the risk, there's dozens of candidates for every open position at every level, most of whom will fill the minimum requirements.
    - opendais 12y ago
      Hmmm, for the past 6 years I've basically seen my income go up faster than inflation. Honestly, for a software dev position, entry level is a comfortable level of living (50k+) as long as it keeps up with inflation for me which it has. This makes me wonder if we are comparing apples to oranges, which is why I wish there would be studies which were position to position. Or, once software developers become too numerous, I'll be stuck in the same position. I guess I really, really should consider a side business that I can transition into a full time living [that isn't contracting] at where a gatekeeper/employer isn't responsible for my income. Thanks
      - bane 12y ago
        It also depends where you live. In my neck of the woods $50k is probably an okay living for a single person. A couple will want to have more like $70-75k. Throw in some kids and you're pretty quickly north of $100k. I'm not talking fancy living, just decent apartment in a nice area, regular sedan, eat out once in a while and have enough for a road-trip vacation out of state once a year kind of life. People manage to do it on far less, but most of my friends dealing with this dream of renting an apartment at all without a cosigner (most rent out of somebody else's home), drive strings of used cars in bad shape, never take vacation, eat crap food at home 3 meals a day 7 days a week, and have major financial emergencies over any unexpected expense that's over $200. That's a $30k/yr life. The ones in the $40k/yr range usually are true of all the above, but rent a small apartment, have a reliable used car, and have major financial emergencies when the unexpected expense hits $350-500. It hurts that we're in pretty much the most highly educated part of the country statistically, surrounded by six of the ten richest counties in America. The competition here is pretty intense.
        opendais 12y ago
        Maybe I am just hitting the lucky spot in terms of industry, occupation, and location then. I just hope I can maintain it then :)

bane 12y ago

30-40k. U.S. Major Metro Area. In their late 30s, early 40s. Getting on to 20 years of work experience.

opendais 12y ago
Hmmm, I make north of 60k. So I'm not sure if I should be concerned...bah. Are you saying they experienced an income drop or just a lack of income increase?
- bane 12y ago
  Lack of income increase. One guy I know would consider a 60+k job as almost a doubling of his income, which has been more or less fixed for the last 10 years. Which, with inflation, means it's a de facto slow pay reduction. He also really struggles with putting out resumes, 8 solid years of rejections makes him think he's formatting his resume wrong, or not describing his job right. But the little feedback he's gotten is that he's simply not meeting the minimum job requirements. But he's way overqualified on the work experience, just no education credentials. So a firm takes a chance if they hire him that he'll jump ship soon for a better paying gig more commensurate to his experience level, or they hope that his experience was complete enough to fill in the gaps that a solid education would provide...but why take the risk, there's dozens of candidates for every open position at every level, most of whom will fill the minimum requirements.
  - opendais 12y ago
    Hmmm, for the past 6 years I've basically seen my income go up faster than inflation. Honestly, for a software dev position, entry level is a comfortable level of living (50k+) as long as it keeps up with inflation for me which it has. This makes me wonder if we are comparing apples to oranges, which is why I wish there would be studies which were position to position. Or, once software developers become too numerous, I'll be stuck in the same position. I guess I really, really should consider a side business that I can transition into a full time living [that isn't contracting] at where a gatekeeper/employer isn't responsible for my income. Thanks
    - bane 12y ago
      It also depends where you live. In my neck of the woods $50k is probably an okay living for a single person. A couple will want to have more like $70-75k. Throw in some kids and you're pretty quickly north of $100k. I'm not talking fancy living, just decent apartment in a nice area, regular sedan, eat out once in a while and have enough for a road-trip vacation out of state once a year kind of life. People manage to do it on far less, but most of my friends dealing with this dream of renting an apartment at all without a cosigner (most rent out of somebody else's home), drive strings of used cars in bad shape, never take vacation, eat crap food at home 3 meals a day 7 days a week, and have major financial emergencies over any unexpected expense that's over $200. That's a $30k/yr life. The ones in the $40k/yr range usually are true of all the above, but rent a small apartment, have a reliable used car, and have major financial emergencies when the unexpected expense hits $350-500. It hurts that we're in pretty much the most highly educated part of the country statistically, surrounded by six of the ten richest counties in America. The competition here is pretty intense.
      - opendais 12y ago
        Maybe I am just hitting the lucky spot in terms of industry, occupation, and location then. I just hope I can maintain it then :)