[thechat] P.o.Ws - Thought this was interesting...

deke web at master.gen.in.us
Tue Jan 29 13:35:01 CST 2002


On 28 Jan 2002 at 23:15, Judah McAuley posted a message which said:

> I formulated a theory awhile ago that I really haven't seen disproved
> yet.  It seems to me that the amount of money that a job pays is
> inversely proportional to the amount of contact/service that they
> provide to other humans.

I formulated a theory back in the 1960s that is similar in results. You
don't get paid for what you do. You get paid for what you put up with.
And it's not what you *actually* put up with, but what you are
*perceived* to put up with.

A tax preparer and a travel agent, for instance, have very similar
jobs. They interview their clients, look up arcane data, and fill out
forms. But a great independent tax preparer in a small town can make
three times as much as the corresponding self-employed travel agent.
Nobody likes taxes and everyone likes vacationing. But the fact is, the
preparer doesn't have to *pay* the taxes, and the travel agent doesn't
get to *take* the vacation. They simply make the arrangements for *you*
to do so.

When I employed people, I didn't pay them what they were worth. I
certainly didn't pay them *more* than what they were worth, but I only
paid as much as was necessary to attract and retain the employees.

As a general rule, people in this society change jobs (not necessarily
employers) every four years. Depending on how expensive it is to hire
and train a new employee, you may want to adjust your pay scale
accordingly.

But government employees get some rather significant benefits. Nobody
can match their health insurance. School teachers never get laid off
because of competition from foreign companies. They never get fired
because of downsizing following a merger. They never lose their pension
because the company goes out of business before they full vest.

If you compare new teachers with other recent liberal arts graduates,
you find comparable annual salaries, despite the fact that school
teachers work 36 weeks a year. If you compare teachers with 20 years
experience with other liberal arts graduates of 20 years experience,
you find *higher* annual salaries.

You hire someone to do something you *can't* do, or you don't *want* to
do. That's why the guy with the dirty, dangerous job in 110F heat in
the warehouse makes 50% more than the file clerk who stays safe and
clean in the air conditioned office. That's why the outside salesman
makes 50% more than a retail store clerk. That's why honey-dippers make
more than swimming-pool cleaners.











--------
We are the parents our people warned us about....





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