Electrical Engineer & Instrumentation Engineer right now. And possibly some E&I designers and CAD operators later. We may have needs in other disciplines also, but I am in the E&I department and I don't know the other needs.
On whose scale? Why are vehicles so much more than they were in 1990? All the additional govt registrations, insurance, and the general costs to do business and to just live in this country that have multiplied since 1990?
I don't think wages and prices alone tell the story. How much did a television cost in 1990 and how much does it cost now? Never mind that you get a vastly better television too. I doubt Ted Turner in 1990 had a TV as big as what you can buy at any Walmart for $500 these days. My $100 cell phone replaces countless other objects I would have to own years ago. Overall, we can afford a lot more stuff than we ever did any time before. Whether we spend our money wisely... That's a completely different matter.
Regulatory costs of all kinds have increased, but we expect a lot more from a vehicle than we did back then. A modern $20K car has more standard equipment than most luxury cars from that time. People these days don't want to buy cars with crank windows, no AC and rubber mats. I used to drive a 1991 Honda Civic... Can you even buy a bare bones car like that anymore?
Add up a comparable car, + computer, + phone, + internet from 1990 and compare that to a car today let alone the safety items. Use John Codman's dollar comparison. No real surprises to the cost today. Also add in the labor cost and business costs to that. Raise wages for all and cost of living will rise for all, it's a vicious circle/cycle.
Those are highly skilled positions. An electrical engineering degree is not exactly a walk in the park. Very few can complete such a degree. If the positions are actually in South Carolina ones dollars go a lot farther there. Hope your firm can find the candidates willing to relocate there.
The first flat screen TV that I ever saw was at a store called U-Do-It Electronics in Needham, MA; I think it's still there. The the small (maybe 30" by 18" Pioneer had a sticker price of a little over $15,000. Electronics prices have come way down. As to higher vehicle prices - You get a hell of a lot better and safer car now then you did in 1990. Just for fun I checked what the $360 that my 1927 Ford Model T would be worth today. The answer is $5,195.36. A new Ford would cost a whole lot more then that, but it isn't a polluting deathtrap, it gets far better fuel economy, and has convenience and safety features that Ford couldn't even dream of 92 years ago. The new Ford will also cruise all day at 75 mph; the T wouldn't go 75 unless you dropped it out of an airplane.
Sure it would, just put it on a trailer and tow it behind a Buick Oh, and one more thing. I stopped at the gas station this morning, walked in and told the gal I wanted 5 gallons of non-ethanol on pump #8 (paying cash and holding a $20 bill in my hand). What do you suppose her response was? "How much is that in dollars?" I wanted to just get back in the truck and go to another station. Maybe shed a few tears on the way.
Unfortunately, modern computer technology is being used for precisely what I feared it would be - a substitute for knowledge. Many if not all cash registers now have a feature of calculating change. If you pay cash the computer requires the cashier to input the amount of cash that you give her/him and it tells the cashier how much change that should be returned to the customer. Since cashiers no longer have to calculate change, the skill of "counting back" change to the customer is disappearing. It's not the fault of the cashier. I used to distribute lead type into California job cases (if you know what I'm writing about, you are most likely not a young person). I learned it from my brother who ran his own print shop. I was very fast and accurate about it. Now we have offset/computer printing; I haven't distributed lead type in decades. I would have to relearn that skill, but that doesn't make me stupid. I learned to count back change working in a gas station in 1960. We worked out of our pants pocket, if we came up short at the end of the shift, we had to make up the shortage. We learned to be fast and accurate. For me, the change feature on the register would just slow me down. The best use of computers is performing tasks like managing our car engines and operating traffic lights.
Yes there is a now hireing on about every corner in the city and about any company door you walk into here. Yes there is also a shortage of semi drivers. I did that job for a while dragging a reefer coast to coast. (1. you don't get a lot of time off at home doing that, I got 28 days total out of 365. Yes we were on the road christmas day & new years along with thanks giving. (2.Then you get east of the Missippi river. Horrible rude people on the east coast roads, think you can stop 80,000 pounds on a dime. or cross a 5 ton weight limit bridge and sneek undar a 9.5' over pass. No you don't call the office for directions the dingy blond who drives a Ford fusion has now Idea about a semi truck and trailers weight length or higth. Pay was Ok but you only got to spend it at truck stops and give the rest to the better half. A quick oil change place here wants ecperince workers. then only pays Michigan minum wage. Can make that working in a clean place like Micky Dees. Auto Zone I use has a help wanted sign since forever. your required to be able to use a computer, change wiper bladed & batterys & light bulbs for what Minum wage. Oh and you have to do it rain or shine, snow or freezeing rain. also need to know where all the ALDL plugs are on cars and trucks you need to hook the scaner up to for people. Again screw that flexable hours and clean place to work that is dry mickey dees for the same wage. If you want workers pay a decent wage not a wage you consider decent either. Why do I need to work there 5 years to get a week off for vacation? a year should be good for a week vacation off. Al
I don’t know of a place around here in MN that starts people at minimum wage anymore. Most are $2-$10 over minimum. Just saw a sign at Post (cereal) for $21 to start and up to $32 for maintenance positions.
Amen to pretty much everything you said. Trucking is not desirable to most due to the lack of "home time" Stevens Transport and a few other companies will PAY your CDL training. But in fine print they say - you will be home perhaps every four to six WEEKS. The auto part companies here are almost impossible to get into. All of them. They simply have a system of hiring their friends, family and buddies. Can see where "Vato Zone" came from. Certainly can understand why work out in the cold when you can be at Wal Mart, Target, or a fast food place, inside, for the same wage. Worked way too long in the home improvement big box environment. Lousy. No differentials for night shift, working in dirty, hard labor departments such as freight, lumber, and building materials. Not a whole lot of sympathy for the West Coast "strive for fifteen" fast food individuals. Wonder how long they would last at a home improvement big box, throwing freight, loading concrete bags, and doing actual work.
I understand the age of computers doing even the most menial tasks but I also believe they hold a high amount of responsibility for the dumbing down of the world. The fact that the use of computers by cashiers may be good thing in someone's eyes, as sure as I am that they are an absolute necessity for some but I feel they almost eliminate a person's need or desire to think. And I think that is dangerous to our society. That gal at the gas station register had no intention of finding out how much a gallon of non-ethanol gas costs, nor did she care. After all, it wasn't her money the store might be losing if I hadn't walked back out and looked at the pump myself. I guess I could have done that before I walked in but I had no idea that they didn't know it themselves. I just assumed, apparently a habit I need to break.
I carry a calulator bercause I want 8 gallons of gas for my lawn mower and pay cash. They won't turn on the pump and let you pump and pay so I figure the cost out prepay and never have to go back in toget mnoney back. But most kids are not taught how to make change in school today either. Al
