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Thread: Willing to work for $15-$20 an hour?

  1. #1
    Senior Member dmc's Avatar
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    Willing to work for $15-$20 an hour?

    I find it interesting that my son who ownes a business in Chicago can’t find anyone who will work. Starting pay would be $15 for someone who has never worked, $20 for someone who has some experience.

    All he is is looking for is someone that speaks English and has a drivers license. Education requirements, none. Prior felony’s, don’t care. Drug test, no.

    Job is for landscaping, mowing, and snow removal. He would even throw in a vehicle to the right candidate.

    he has run adds for a week and no response.

    I would think that at $15-$20 a hour there would be some interested. High school drop outs with felony convictions can still get a drivers license can’t they?

    He does expect them to show up on time and work, and be able to drive a truck if needed. Evedently thats hard to find in Chicago.

  2. #2
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Hmmm - minimum wage in Chicago is $12/hour I believe.

    US Bureau of Labor Stats says the mean hourly wage (in 2017) in Chicago is $26.57/hour. Salaries for part-time workers seem noticeably lower there though.

    https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/...es_chicago.htm

    Is this a full-time position? Does it have any benefits?

    What's the cost-of-living like in Chicago?

    Hereabouts, you can't find anyone at $20/hour really. But our cost of living is through the roof, and we have a major housing issue. Simple landscaping starts at $25/hour.

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    So I applied to a $15 an hour job and thought "wow scraping the bottom of the barrel" but ... but then VERY hard technical test (not in my area of expertise either really) and I just said "screw it, I'm going to flunk out of a $15 an hour job test!!!". Bleh whatever. Minimum wage here is $11. And I know they are radically underpaying the market for that job title too, because I know what the market is, and it's not that.

    However, people are desperate enough that someone will work it, maybe just for the job title, that someone might be me, IF I was likely to do better on that test (uh no we can't do wonderful on every possible test, some things are actually what we have mostly focused on in our work, and some are just things we know a little about but aren't experts on, however if one is applying for $15 an hour jobs one is getting pretty desperate to TRY ANYTHING you know).

    Could I even live on $15 an hour here in California, well the reality is it is likely I would have to dip into savings from time to time working full time then no matter how minimal the budget. Uh we're not really known for super low cost of living here ...

    so sick of this job market here, I can't even say. You have to know someone to get in, many people say, I think they are on to something. And I lose faith that anything one does matters, more classes to learn new skills, yea I'm doing it but does that even matter, go back to school and study whole new area and get a degree in a whole new area, yea but can you really get a job in any of them if you are starting out entry level in them when there are no entry level jobs? Etc. My boyfriend has suggested that the only way to have an income might be to try to start a business, grumble. So this is the post-work future I have been hearing about I guess.
    Trees don't grow on money

  4. #4
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    I was making $22 an hour at my last "real" job. It was sufficient, but that was twenty years ago, before housing costs became insane.

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    Where is he running the ads? Is he targeting the right audience? Has he considered contacting the state employment division--they are usually pretty good about getting word out about jobs.

    What are other similar jobs in the area paying? If everyone else is paying more, that's where the workers will go.

    Do the ads make it both clear how to contact him and easy to contact him? Given his potential labor pool, access to the internet might be limited.

    Or maybe he's late looking for help, and most of the people willing to do this kind of work were hired earlier in the year.

    It's hard to say why no one has contacted him, but if there has been no response, he may need to change up the ad or where he is posting it.

  6. #6
    Senior Member dmc's Avatar
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    This is a job mowing grass and maybe shoveling some snow. The only requirement is being able to drive and show up for work.

    This is a basic starter job. It’s more than minimum wage and more than the burger flippers get.

  7. #7
    Senior Member dmc's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Miss Cellaneous View Post
    Where is he running the ads? Is he targeting the right audience? Has he considered contacting the state employment division--they are usually pretty good about getting word out about jobs.

    What are other similar jobs in the area paying? If everyone else is paying more, that's where the workers will go.

    Do the ads make it both clear how to contact him and easy to contact him? Given his potential labor pool, access to the internet might be limited.

    Or maybe he's late looking for help, and most of the people willing to do this kind of work were hired earlier in the year.

    It's hard to say why no one has contacted him, but if there has been no response, he may need to change up the ad or where he is posting it.
    This could be the problem. I guess also that everyone that wants a job has one. He may have to pay more, or sub it out.

  8. #8
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Does the "drive a truck" part require a CDL? Are there any benefits at all? Any idea of how many hours a week a prospective employee typically would tote up?

    Around here (which I believe is less expensive than Chicago) you can make that kind of money working at ALDI or Home Depot or in air conditioning (in the summer) during retail hours without that much physical labor and maybe get a few benefits after a while. You can make that kind of $$ delivering newspapers each morning (that starts at o'dark-thirty but at least you've got the rest of your day) or delivering pizza or lab samples around town. Might even do better at that at a restaurant if you add in tips.

    Either the jobs need to be advertised better or your son needs to offer more money (free market at work).
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  9. #9
    Senior Member dmc's Avatar
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    No CDL, just to drive around town, and possibly to and from home.

    Im pretty sure those retail stores would run a background check and drug test. He doesn’t care about prior convictions as long as the hire is willing to work.

    Back when I was hireing, 11 years ago, I could get new hires for $12 a hour. And they had to pass a background check, drug test, and have some schooling or experience. That was in St. Louis.

    He May have to pay more, I’m just surprised.

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    Health insurance would sweeten the pot. But this isn’t the type of job that can give that. We regularly hire people for 12-15 an hour if they don’t have experience, but there’s full benefits that cost them almost nothing and a pension if they make it their career. Over time they can get raises that get them into the mid 20s per hour,

    It’s not much money really, but here in Phoenix housing is less expensive than many cities.

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