WTF is REALLY going on with the job market?

[Spectre3]

My thought is a minimum wage is a wage you pay high school kids at their first job. If I had to pay 15-20$ an hour to a 17 year old kid sweeping metal chips of the floor or sorting the mail, then he would never ever get hired, and he would never work his way up. The economist Thomas Sowell said the true minimum wage is zero.

That's not actually what minimum wage is, though. FDR stated when he pushed for the federal minimum wage at the end of the great depression, that the minimum wage should provide a living wage.

Sowell's viewpoint on it isn't wrong. Having a federally mandated minimum wage in fact hurt the income prospects of low wage workers. The recent pay rise for unskilled jobs in an effort to draw in new employees despite an unchanging minimum wage is an example of the market at work.
Workers are supposed to compete against other workers (not employers) to find jobs and get the highest wages. Employers compete against other employers to find the best workers.

 

[lonegunman762x51]

That's not actually what minimum wage is, though. FDR stated when he pushed for the federal minimum wage at the end of the great depression, that the minimum wage should provide a living wage.

Sowell's viewpoint on it isn't wrong. Having a federally mandated minimum wage in fact hurt the income prospects of low wage workers. The recent pay rise for unskilled jobs in an effort to draw in new employees despite an unchanging minimum wage is an example of the market at work.
Workers are supposed to compete against other workers (not employers) to find jobs and get the highest wages. Employers compete against other employers to find the best workers.

It is a living wage if you cut out the luxuries assholes expect to have at the bottom of the scale.......................read the definition of "minimum".

Assholes in poverty in America have air conditioning and cable or fiber about 85% of the time. 98% of them have a full working kitchen with a microwave and dishwasher. More than half of these assholes own TWO cars. BTW, a single person working full time at $15 per hour is not eligible for food stamps in this state, so the minimum wage if perfectly fine according to our commie fucking governor and state house.

So $15 an hour is a living wage after all.

 

[Bradu]

Correct.

Not only that, but what is the pathway to wage increases?

Not all that great at most places, which is why people don't stick it out in the mechanic field. They end up cutting their losses by selling tools and tool boxes to try another career. I'm underpaid for my experience and the amount of work I turn out, but I'm making $3-5 an hour more than most of my coworkers even though they've been there 15 plus years and I'm on my 3rd year. I'm wanting to talk to two shops that advertise up to $40-45 to see what they will start out and how long it will take to get there. I have a feeling they have no intention of anyone making that kind of money.

 

[Bigfatcock]

What does a toolbox full of Snap-on tools cost these days?

 

[Bradu]

It all depends on what you work on and what you need for tools but the boxes have went way up unless you watch for deals on Facebook. The problem with that is most people can't pay cash and would rather pay 29% interest because they can pay $25-50 a week. Of course, kids want a huge box so he can keep up with everyone. They don't understand it's taken 20-30 years for people to get to that point.

I upgraded my box almost 2 years ago and the box has went up quite a bit since then. It retails for a little over $40k right now. If I added up all my tools and tool boxes at current replacement value, I'd say I'm close to $150k. I have a lot of specialty tools and bigger sockets/wrenches. With the bigger stuff, a single wrench is over $200 right now to give you an idea of tool costs off the truck. Retail on a long handled ½" drive ratchet is closing in on $300.

 

[Bigfatcock]

It all depends on what you work on and what you need for tools but the boxes have went way up unless you watch for deals on Facebook. The problem with that is most people can't pay cash and would rather pay 29% interest because they can pay $25-50 a week. Of course, kids want a huge box so he can keep up with everyone. They don't understand it's taken 20-30 years for people to get to that point.

I upgraded my box almost 2 years ago and the box has went up quite a bit since then. It retails for a little over $40k right now. If I added up all my tools and tool boxes at current replacement value, I'd say I'm close to $150k. I have a lot of specialty tools and bigger sockets/wrenches. With the bigger stuff, a single wrench is over $200 right now to give you an idea of tool costs off the truck. Retail on a long handled ½" drive ratchet is closing in on $300.

Wow.

 

[Sum Ting Wong]

When I left Chrysler in ‘07, my 55” Matco box and tools had an appraised value of just under $30k. I could never afford to get back into wrenching, even if I wanted to.

 

[gigamortis]

Not all that great at most places, which is why people don't stick it out in the mechanic field. They end up cutting their losses by selling tools and tool boxes to try another career. I'm underpaid for my experience and the amount of work I turn out, but I'm making $3-5 an hour more than most of my coworkers even though they've been there 15 plus years and I'm on my 3rd year. I'm wanting to talk to two shops that advertise up to $40-45 to see what they will start out and how long it will take to get there. I have a feeling they have no intention of anyone making that kind of money.

The only way to make good in the mechanic/technician field is to be a sole proprietor. If you are working for someone else, that's one hell of a cut of YOUR labor and experience for the big guy.

Auto dealers in my area are pulling in $170/hr door rate and top techs are around $40-$45/flat rate hr. Back in the 70s and 80s, top techs got 50% of the door rate when it was under $30 and the shop owners still had plenty to fuel up their offshore yachts every weekend. Any shop owners these days crying poor mouth is a lying sack of shit.

 

[Bradu]

The only way to make good in the mechanic/technician field is to be a sole proprietor. If you are working for someone else, that's one hell of a cut or YOUR labor and experience for the big guy.

Auto dealers in my area are pulling in $170/hr door rate and top techs are around $40-$45/flat rate hr. Back in the 70s and 80s, top techs got 50% of the door rate when it was under $30 and the shop owners still had plenty to fuel up their offshore yachts every weekend. Any shop owners these days crying poor mouth is a lying sack of shit.

Having my own shop is my goal at some point which is why I'm buying more specialty tools and software. I'm really considering a Peterbilt or Kenworth dealer for the training in order to get paccar and cummins certified. I'm not a huge fan of certs but I've talked to some guys that really recommend it. I've always been fleet so I've never worked on customer's stuff before. I feel like I need to try that as well just to make sure I want to deal with people.

I think the boss said Arizona Mack dealer was $210 am hour for labor. It's getting pretty crazy what repair costs are up to, especially with some of the people doing the work. The amount of people that load the parts cannon instead of troubleshooting is crazy. A coworker tried troubleshooting trailer abs while I was gone for my surgery. Couldn't hook up with the laptop so he threw an $800 abs valve at it only to find out he couldn't connect to it and the abs lamp was still on. They left it for me and he had the wrong adapter selected in the software. The wheel speed sensor gap was too big so it should have been a simple repair that cost nothing.

 

[gigamortis]

Having my own shop is my goal at some point which is why I'm buying more specialty tools and software. I'm really considering a Peterbilt or Kenworth dealer for the training in order to get paccar and cummins certified. I'm not a huge fan of certs but I've talked to some guys that really recommend it. I've always been fleet so I've never worked on customer's stuff before. I feel like I need to try that as well just to make sure I want to deal with people.

I think the boss said Arizona Mack dealer was $210 am hour for labor. It's getting pretty crazy what repair costs are up to, especially with some of the people doing the work. The amount of people that load the parts cannon instead of troubleshooting is crazy. A coworker tried troubleshooting trailer abs while I was gone for my surgery. Couldn't hook up with the laptop so he threw an $800 abs valve at it only to find out he couldn't connect to it and the abs lamp was still on. They left it for me and he had the wrong adapter selected in the software. The wheel speed sensor gap was too big so it should have been a simple repair that cost nothing.

A portion of the exorbitant door rate amount is the shop owners milking the customer to cover the incompetence of the bottom dollar employees they hire.

 

[Sum Ting Wong]

My coworker’s truck was intermittently running like crap, he replaced plugs, coils, fuel pump, and cat to no avail. I went out and did a wiggle test on various parts of the harness and replicated the issue, he had a loose pin in a connector… The sad part is that a shop told him cat and fuel pump.

 

[eddie102870]

i have 85 otr trucks. my two head mechanics both make close to 30 per hour. benefits are Health, life, dental, vision, supplemental insurance. close to 10k in bonuses every year and we buy them a new truck every 10 years. ones been with me over 30 years and the other is bumping 20 years. They pretty much do preventative maintenance and tire and brake work. i buy all the specialty tools we need. we trade equipment before the warranty runs out.

 

[beetroot]

My coworker’s truck was intermittently running like crap, he replaced plugs, coils, fuel pump, and cat to no avail. I went out and did a wiggle test on various parts of the harness and replicated the issue, he had a loose pin in a connector… The sad part is that a shop told him cat and fuel pump.

My mom was having intermittent issues with one of the indicators on her Audi, it had been going in for years and multiple garages weren't able to fix it.

The last place she took it said she needed a new wiring loom so asked me to look into it. Took me about 10minutes to find out there was a broken contact in the headlight assembly.
Ended up fixing it with a few lengths of wire I'd aquire from work and a few minutes with a soldering iron.

It seems like auto mechanics are completely dog shit everywhere in the world these days.

 

[devildog93]

What does a toolbox full of Snap-on tools cost these days?

No idea since snap-on went online. The tool truck is just for people that like revolving credit(which is most mechanics).

 

[SilentStalkr]

My mom was having intermittent issues with one of the indicators on her Audi, it had been going in for years and multiple garages weren't able to fix it.

The last place she took it said she needed a new wiring loom so asked me to look into it. Took me about 10minutes to find out there was a broken contact in the headlight assembly.
Ended up fixing it with a few lengths of wire I'd aquire from work and a few minutes with a soldering iron.

It seems like auto mechanics are completely dog shit everywhere in the world these days.

Or they just don’t care! They just want to get that money as fast as possible whether it’s the actual issue or not. Sounds a lot like docs these days too. All about that dollar. Seems nobody has any real values and character anymore. Not to mention, half the time, from my experience, mechanics break more shit then they fix.

 

[theLBC]

 

[SONIC SAAMI]

I just renewed my class A CDL drivers and a new medical card.
Been retired 3 years.
Our contract reads retirees drawing a pension can work three months of any calendar year, without it affecting pension payments.
Text my manager pictures of my new drivers license and medical certificate.
He text me right back, saying he would put me to work immediately.

 

[Bradu]

Or they just don’t care! They just want to get that money as fast as possible whether it’s the actual issue or not. Sounds a lot like docs these days too. All about that dollar. Seems nobody has any real values and character anymore. Not to mention, half the time, from my experience, mechanics break more shit then they fix.

That pretty much sums it up. I was off for two months and was told there wasn't anything to do most of the time by the whole shop. The other two truck mechanics fucked off, I've been back a little over a week and I'm still fixing shit that's been in the yard the whole time. I'd say I have another week or two of shit that still needs fixed that's been here all along.

They spent 5 hours doing an oil change on one truck and it needed all these repairs but pulled it outside. Headlight out, turn signal out, marker light out, city horn doesn't work, windshield washer fluid pump doesnt work, cab air filter missing, and broken windshield. Spent more time writing a fictional story in the work order than most of the repairs would have taken. The truck hasn't been driven since the service either. I got the "it wasn't broken when we had it in the shop" when I asked about the windshield. Too bad the driver took pictures of it and it is time stamped when it was wrote up in the daily inspections. I don't know why the company DOT rating sucks

 

[Charger442]

Eat shit, spammer

 

[6.5SH]

Eat shit, spammer

Just click report, when you quote them you help keep their shitty spam links alive for whatever SEO scam they are involved with.

 

[Charger442]

Just click report, when you quote them you help keep their shitty spam links alive for whatever SEO scam they are involved with.

Already reported

 

[BurtG]

The recent pay rise for unskilled jobs in an effort to draw in new employees despite an unchanging minimum wage is an example of the market at work.

Lol what

Are you high

Maybe that’s the market if you think paying people not to work , welfare, welfare for illegals and .gov “jobs” is part of the free market