What would you call an average wage?

[FoxEye]

You'll be lucky to earn 19k down here in Torbay, a vast majority of the jobs are seasonal and/or in the hospitality field that all pay minimum wage. It's no wonder they are all desperate for staff, no one wants to work crappy jobs for crappy money.

If your lucky enough to work full time doing 40 hours a week you can just about scrape 19k, but very few companies that pay minimum wage offer full time work, most are part time 16-24 hours and shift work so you may not even be able to work multiple jobs.

You won't even earn £19k doing 1st line IT work down here! Heck I was earning ~£15k doing 2nd line for years.

Lots and lots and lots of people taking home <£1k every month. And then paying £700/month rent (for a single room). I know London has bad property prices but we have the worst income to property prices ratio, down here.

 

[BallistixOnZ490]

£2 a day.

As a global average.

 

[moon man]

You won't even earn £19k doing 1st line IT work down here! Heck I was earning ~£15k doing 2nd line for years.

Lots and lots and lots of people taking home <£1k every month. And then paying £700/month rent (for a single room). I know London has bad property prices but we have the worst income to property prices ratio, down here.

Yeah As I've said ready you can walk into a no brainer job now and get 23.5 k at least in North Cornwall we have a bulgarian couple so they clear what 3.3k a month, anybody who can't earn near that really are not trying

 

[Rroff]

Yeah As I've said ready you can walk into a no brainer job now and get 23.5 k at least in North Cornwall we have a bulgarian couple so they clear what 3.3k a month, anybody who can't earn near that really are not trying

Can't see much unskilled work which would pay more than about 18.5K around where I live - 23-24K is retail supervisor or similar kind of employment and gonna struggle to afford you anything more than a 1 bedroom flat in a not great neighbourhood as well around here - dunno how anyone gets by on minimum wage around here unless they have a partner, etc. or living with parents - no wonder an increasing number seem to have no aspirations beyond doing their 16 hours a week and claiming benefits + social housing.

 

[Semple]

Check out inflation, a gallon of fuel is not far off 35p in 1971 terms today.

I think that's the scary thing about inflation that a lot of people don't realise. Unless your money is also growing in line with inflation then you're actually getting poorer. Also only having inflation increases to salary effectively means your income has stalled.

You'll be lucky to earn 19k down here in Torbay, a vast majority of the jobs are seasonal and/or in the hospitality field that all pay minimum wage. It's no wonder they are all desperate for staff, no one wants to work crappy jobs for crappy money.

If your lucky enough to work full time doing 40 hours a week you can just about scrape 19k, but very few companies that pay minimum wage offer full time work, most are part time 16-24 hours and shift work so you may not even be able to work multiple jobs.

I wonder how London manage. They must have a good sizeable percentage of the working population in London that do things like cleaning, waitering, deliveries etc, all what you'd expect minimum wage to pay, and not being able to afford to live in the area.

 

[Bear]

I think that's the scary thing about inflation that a lot of people don't realise. Unless your money is also growing in line with inflation then you're actually getting poorer. Also only having inflation increases to salary effectively means your income has stalled.

The employer argument to that is, if you want more than an inflation rise, then what extra value are you adding to the company.

 

[Semple]

The employer argument to that is, if you want more than an inflation rise, then what extra value are you adding to the company.

Assuming you're not in a job that is repetitive, then your experience and knowledge would continue to grow and thus add extra value to the company.

Actually even with a repetitive job, if over time you're able to speed up the task / make less mistakes due to things like muscle memory, then again you'd be adding extra value to the company.

 

[Bear]

Assuming you're not in a job that is repetitive, then your experience and knowledge would continue to grow and thus add extra value to the company.

Actually even with a repetitive job, if over time you're able to speed up the task / make less mistakes due to things like muscle memory, then again you'd be adding extra value to the company.

Absolutely and on that basis is what most would be arguing a raise for, although there are plenty of people that dont add extra value and continue to do the same job as they did before or even get jaded and do whats needed to get by

 

[FoxEye]

Yeah As I've said ready you can walk into a no brainer job now and get 23.5 k at least in North Cornwall we have a bulgarian couple so they clear what 3.3k a month, anybody who can't earn near that really are not trying

What "no brainer" job is paying that much? Like I said, 1st line IT isn't even paying that much.

 

[moon man]

£10.50 an hour at 42.5 hours a week, factory work not brilliant but not the worst but its there,

 

[Josh]

What "no brainer" job is paying that much? Like I said, 1st line IT isn't even paying that much.

Yeah correct, no "no-brainer" roles are getting £23.5 k

 

[Ayahuasca]

What "no brainer" job is paying that much? Like I said, 1st line IT isn't even paying that much.

I mean first line IT is quite cushy compared to fast-paced factory work. Sitting in an air conned office doing stuff at what's mostly a leisurely pace is going to appeal to far more of the younger generation than factory work.

Even in the North East with factories like Nissan that pay relatively well, the turnover is massive as people can't hack the physical labour for 8 hours.

 

[FoxEye]

I mean first line IT is quite cushy compared to fast-paced factory work. Sitting in an air conned office doing stuff at what's mostly a leisurely pace is going to appeal to far more of the younger generation than factory work.

Even in the North East with factories like Nissan that pay relatively well, the turnover is massive as people can't hack the physical labour for 8 hours.

He's also listed a factory job with >42 working hours a week. 1st line IT will be 37 hours typically.

Factory work has got to be bad enough without jacking up the hours.

 

[moon man]

Agree with the above, hence i am going on a 3 day week, I am not in an argument here just stating a fact what we pay unskilled newbies
Edit / I like the physical aspect of the job but the hours suck, especially living here, posted in that other thread about my part time request, my job is pretty laid back setting printers and labelers up but also production and reparing, the turnover is pretty high on production though

 

[R3dRaven]

Wow, this is a real eye opener. I knew wages in the Uk were fairly poor but looking at these numbers I'm honestly shocked. I hope the figures that are being talked about are after tax and not top line!

I work in the chemical industry on shifts, 12 hour days and nights on a continental shift pattern ( 2days 2nights then 4off) and my basic is 35k then with shift allowance to be added and fixed over time ontop and it comes out upwards of 45k.

But the bad side is the place runs 24/7 152 days a year, no free choice holiday and work 3 out of 5 Christmas's and new years and 16 shifts on call throughout the year.

And this is posted at 03:29 in the morning, oh the joys

 

[Angilion]

Wow, this is a real eye opener. I knew wages in the Uk were fairly poor but looking at these numbers I'm honestly shocked. I hope the figures that are being talked about are after tax and not top line! [..]

They're almost certainly top line.

Minimum wage in the UK is £8.91 per hour. At 37 hours per week, that's £17,143 per year. Top line. And that's assuming you can get 37 hours per week, which is unlikely. A lot of employers only offer part time contracts at best. Or they call 20 hours per week full time. It's also often impossible to work two part time jobs nowadays as many jobs are work on demand, no fixed days or hours.

Even that's assuming you're at least 22 years old. It's lower for younger people.

 

[Rroff]

While it is going to be somewhat subjective I think the real issue is that the income for a given role is more and more stretched in terms of being able to afford what most people would consider a commensurate lifestyle, which will depend a bit area to area, etc. towards the middle that might mean a little adjustment of your expectations (not that I think that is a good thing) but towards the edges that means a much bigger problem.

 

[Lopéz]

Can't see much unskilled work which would pay more than about 18.5K around where I live - 23-24K is retail supervisor or similar kind of employment and gonna struggle to afford you anything more than a 1 bedroom flat in a not great neighbourhood as well around here - dunno how anyone gets by on minimum wage around here unless they have a partner, etc. or living with parents - no wonder an increasing number seem to have no aspirations beyond doing their 16 hours a week and claiming benefits + social housing.

If unskilled work is not well paid enough then a good suggestion would often be to get some skills.

I don't mean that flippantly - but if you want a better wage and more opportunity then you need to do something about it instead of complaining (Roff this isn't specifically aimed at you, I just happened to quote your post as it referred to unskilled work)

I pay juniors and apprentices more then the sub - 19k figures being discussed here; and if you're really good then within a few years you'll be doubling or trebling that figure - and you absolutely won't be unskilled by that point.

Edit :
Real life example; guy joined us 2.5 years ago as a trainee, straight from school with some foundation knowledge in what we do. Smart guy but more than anything, determined.
Within a year he was above 20k, within 18 months he had 4 certifications (self studied) and was on 25k, and after just over 2 years he moved to a more senior role in another company doing the same thing for 45k. Now he'll be working hard for that 45k, but when you get good at something then "hard" is a really loose term.

Not bad for someone 3 years out of school with no more than your average set of GCSEs.

Very little to do with aptitude and a great deal to do with attitude.

 

[Rroff]

If unskilled work is not well paid enough then a good suggestion would often be to get some skills.

I don't mean that flippantly - but if you want a better wage and more opportunity then you need to do something about it instead of complaining (Roff this isn't specifically aimed at you, I just happened to quote your post as it referred to unskilled work)

I pay juniors and apprentices more then the sub - 19k figures being discussed here; and if you're really good then within a few years you'll be doubling or trebling that figure - and you absolutely won't be unskilled by that point.

It isn't a solution for everyone - there are many people who are already at or close to their skill ceiling or older people who were doing alright but now struggling where time isn't on their side in terms of upskilling, etc.

 

[iamtheoneneo]

It isn't a solution for everyone - there are many people who are already at or close to their skill ceiling or older people who were doing alright but now struggling where time isn't on their side in terms of upskilling, etc.

Not sure i buy into that. You can always learn no matter the age. If you want to talk about time/commitment to do that then sure but I don't see 'getting old' as a valid excuse especially in first world countries.