10 Companies Paying Americans the Least

[JayBird]

only problem I've run into working down here is the attitude of working past 5.  People look at you like you are insane if you want them to work past 5 on a weekday.  I've even had someone tell me that we don't pay them after 5, so why should they work?

Yeah, you would get the feeling that the amount of compensation they get isnt enough to make them feel committed to the project.

Weird how that never happens at Apple.

we pay well compared to the average in this market.  Again, haven't had this problem in Charlotte, Richmond, LA, Memphis, or the DC area.

I can attest to the same issue when I was with HSBC. Closed down because Jax was just bad labor pool compared to the sister offices in San Diego, New Castle and Las Vegas. However, they left in 2007 and if you remember back then people could pretty much still pick and choose jobs up until 2005/2006 so that may play a part as well.

[MEGATRON]

People look at you like you are insane if you want them to work past 5 on a weekday.

Yes, we should all devote all of our waking hours to work.

That's an interesting take on fsquid's statement.

Agree with what another poster stated, Jacksonville has an awful labor pool for blue collar jobs.  Blue collar jobs that pay well.

[BridgeTroll]

Glad everyone is leaving Starbucks alone...

[simms3]

only problem I've run into working down here is the attitude of working past 5.  People look at you like you are insane if you want them to work past 5 on a weekday.  I've even had someone tell me that we don't pay them after 5, so why should they work?

Yeah, you would get the feeling that the amount of compensation they get isnt enough to make them feel committed to the project.

Weird how that never happens at Apple.

we pay well compared to the average in this market.  Again, haven't had this problem in Charlotte, Richmond, LA, Memphis, or the DC area.

I can attest to the same issue when I was with HSBC. Closed down because Jax was just bad labor pool compared to the sister offices in San Diego, New Castle and Las Vegas. However, they left in 2007 and if you remember back then people could pretty much still pick and choose jobs up until 2005/2006 so that may play a part as well.

People look at you like you are insane if you want them to work past 5 on a weekday.

Yes, we should all devote all of our waking hours to work.

That's an interesting take on fsquid's statement.

Agree with what another poster stated, Jacksonville has an awful labor pool for blue collar jobs.  Blue collar jobs that pay well.

I don't think FL as a whole is known for a "hard-working" labor force.  Quite a contrast when you travel up the east coast or over to the left coast to see the kind of hours people work in other cities!  I've pulled 6 all nighters in the past 2 weeks and was in the office til 2 last night, back again right now (granted I typically only work a "60 hour" week).  Though candidly I work a "white collar" job, that doesn't necessarily mean shit right now when my taxes are insane and the average rental price where I live approaches $3,000/mo.

Interesting read with pictures and commentary to see what SF apartments are renting for nowadays 

http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2013/11/18/the_10_worst_apartments_currently_for_rent_in_san_francisco.php

[fsquid]

It doesn't matter anyway.  We are closing our office here and the 4 of us who report to other cities are going to move into executive suites next month.  The work that our office here is doing will get done out of Orlando, Raleigh, and Charlotte.

[finehoe]

So where once a sole breadwinner could work 9-5 and support a family in a middle-class lifestyle, now if you aren't willing to commute between cities, work 60-hour weeks, and work uncompensated overtime, you are a slacker and lazy.

Is that really the kind of society we want to aspire to?

[Tony B]

Also likely the top ten list of companies with the highest number of unskilled workers on the payroll.

In the modern world No skill = No money.  Like it or not it's a supply and demand world and there is a large supply of no/low skill workers.

[Traveller]

Is that really the kind of society we want to aspire to?

It may not be the society we want to aspire to, but it's what we're competing against internationally.  The world is flat, as they say.

[finehoe]

it's what we're competing against internationally.  The world is flat, as they say.

That's what neoclassical economic theory preaches, but the empirical record of trade liberalisation finds that "free trade" actually reduces material welfare rather than increasing it.

"Advocates of global economic integration hold out utopian visions of the prosperity that countries will reap if they open their borders to commerce and capital. This hollow promise diverts nations' attention and resources from the key domestic innovations needed to spur economic growth."

http://bss.sfsu.edu/jmoss/resources/635_pdf/No_17_Rodrik.pdf

[JayBird]

So where once a sole breadwinner could work 9-5 and support a family in a middle-class lifestyle, now if you aren't willing to commute between cities, work 60-hour weeks, and work uncompensated overtime, you are a slacker and lazy.

Is that really the kind of society we want to aspire to?

That is not what I am saying, but you seem hellbent on making it seem that way. I am saying that jobs are there, people just need to adapt to those jobs IF they don't like their current situation. Sitting back and expecting a great paying job to come to Jacksonville is unrealistic, and blaming the 10 largest companies by employment numbers (you know, the actual point of this thread) is sort of unfair.

And yes, one thing that makes our country last is our ability to adapt and change with the times. Some people are happy living paycheck to paycheck, though they want more money they are still satisfied and that is fine. They are happy, not lazy. Waiting for the big van to pull up and bring balloons and a big check to your door while you complain about how "society" is keeping you down, that is lazy.

[finehoe]

I am saying that jobs are there

You can say it all you want, but that doesn't make it so.

"So far this year, low-paying industries have provided 61 percent of the nation's job growth, even though these industries represent just 39 percent of overall U.S. jobs, according to Labor Department numbers analyzed by Moody's Analytics. Mid-paying industries have contributed just 22 percent of this year's job gain.

"The jobs that are being created are not generating much income," Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities USA, wrote in a note to clients.

That's one reason Americans' pay hasn't kept up with even historically low inflation since the Great Recession ended in June 2009. Average hourly pay fell to $23.98 an hour."

[JayBird]

LoL you can pull someone's opinion from the internet all you want. As I've stated, and others have verified, the job boards differ from those statements. Also I think many people in Jax would love to be making the "average" of $23.98/hr.

In addition, most people understand that labor statistics aren't based off of actual employed people, they are based off of those seeking unemployment benefits. So yes, I tend to believe what I can see is true at my job and what others tell me than what some statistician shows on a chart after reviewing 3month old data and comparing it to last 3-5 years.

[BridgeTroll]

I am saying that jobs are there

You can say it all you want, but that doesn't make it so.

"So far this year, low-paying industries have provided 61 percent of the nation's job growth, even though these industries represent just 39 percent of overall U.S. jobs, according to Labor Department numbers analyzed by Moody's Analytics. Mid-paying industries have contributed just 22 percent of this year's job gain.

"The jobs that are being created are not generating much income," Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities USA, wrote in a note to clients.

That's one reason Americans' pay hasn't kept up with even historically low inflation since the Great Recession ended in June 2009. Average hourly pay fell to $23.98 an hour."

The jobs are there... who is going to fill them?  The overall HS graduation rate hovers at around 70%... with minorities around 50%.  The 30% overall and 50% of minorities are doomed to perpetual minimum wage jobs unless THEY do something to change things.  Apparently the ones who do graduate from both HS and University are still lacking high tech skills needed that are being taught in other countries... prompting some companies to expand job searches abroad.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/06/10/34swanson.h29.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2013/05/08/top-10-companies-hiring-immigrants-and-what-theyre-paying/

[JayBird]

^good point BT, that's a viewpoint I hadn't considered.

[ChriswUfGator]

The high tech skill they often lack is the ability to feed a family on chump change. It's not that workers are unavailable in the US who can write software code, far from it. Just none willing to do a given job for what the company would like to pay for it. Basic supply and demand, although they misconstrue this as no workers being available. Unfortunately now there is the third option of outsourcing or importing workers from some other economically disadvantaged country, which has the result you'd expect, declining average wages in the US. For any given job, offer a high enough salary and I guarantee you'll fill it domestically. That isn't what's happening, it's a constant move to 'how cheap can I get away with.'