Administrative Jobs un US - with Salaries - just an FYI

[Rx_]

I don't trust many of the web job sites as far as salaries and descriptions.
This firm Robert Half International post the actual positions and salaries for Administrative Assistants.
Link_to_Listings
Feel free to take a look and comment back.
Here is what was interesting to me:

1. Found the salaries interesting. These are semi-skilled in Microsoft Office products and other skills. I expected them to be about $7.00 higher on average.
2. One of the movements in the US Minimum Wage for unskilled store clerks (e.g. Target) wants a minimum of $20.00 USD. After seeing this, that proposed minimum wage seems too high.
3. Many of the Junior Colleges actually offere MS Office certification to help graduates get into the job market with these skills. It can be used as a gateway to entering a company.

Over the years, I have worked for RH as have some of my other friends. So these listings validity would rank up there in my experience.

 

[Frothingslosh]

I don't trust many of the web job sites as far as salaries and descriptions.
This firm Robert Half International post the actual positions and salaries for Administrative Assistants.
Link_to_Listings
Feel free to take a look and comment back.
Here is what was interesting to me:

1. Found the salaries interesting. These are semi-skilled in Microsoft Office products and other skills. I expected them to be about $7.00 higher on average.
2. One of the movements in the US Minimum Wage for unskilled store clerks (e.g. Target) wants a minimum of $20.00 USD. After seeing this, that proposed minimum wage seems too high.
3. Many of the Junior Colleges actually offere MS Office certification to help graduates get into the job market with these skills. It can be used as a gateway to entering a company.

Over the years, I have worked for RH as have some of my other friends. So these listings validity would rank up there in my experience.

To be fair, a lot (if not most) of the proposed minimum wage requests are intentionally high - you want to start negotiations with room to give. That said, when minimum wage was introduced back in the 50's (or 60's, but I think 50's), it was intended as the minimum amount necessary for one man to support his family, assuming no extravagent purchases. Somehow in the time since then it has morphed into this whole "it's for high school kids to make a few bucks" concept from that, while at the same time being paid at jobs that quite literally CANNOT be performed by high school kids. (Things like any first shift job, for example.)

I did a whole rant on the subject over on FB a month or so ago I can copy/paste if necessary.

Ten years ago, RHI paid well above industry standard for its temps, balancing that by them being better workers, generally more skilled, and rather less likely to flake out or be problems. Today, they're just another temp service, and pay as such. Most of their jobs are in the $10-$13 range (here in Michigan) for office workers, who are any more a dime a dozen. I tend to go for more specialized agencies that both have higher requirements and higher pay. (I've seen the same position advertised by both RHI and TEKSystems, and TEK paid $5 more.)

I worked for RHI around ten years ago, but it ended poorly. The supervisor where I was was an asshole. RHI literally warned me about it ahead of time, as I was the 6th temp in 2 weeks, and the supervisor even introduced himself with "Hi, I'm Gary and I'm an asshole." Worked there a year and a half, my car died and I missed a day, and he immediately contacted RHI to terminate my employment, saying he'd prefer temps "who show up for work", and painted a picture of me skipping work and leaving early, even though my signed time cards said otherwise. Since then I wound up blacklisted by the local RHI office.

Anyway, yeah, MS Certification is the way to go if you want office work but don't have a degree. You'll still get used and not paid a whole lot, but you'll still be able to pull in $15-$18 an hour, easy, and I've seen office gigs with those minimal requirements paying low-20's.

 

[kevlray]

Unfortunately for me, even though I make a decent wage. Between taxes and health insurance, I take home about 42% of my paycheck (my gross is under $80,000) a year. Just me and my wife on the health insurance (~$1000.00/month). And I have the 'cheap' insurance. Not sure how the administrative staff can even afford insurance. Most of them just above minimum wage.

 

[Frothingslosh]

My employer offers crap insurance, but it runs about $150 a month for one person, up to $500-$600 a month for families.

If you make under $40,000 a year, barring SCOTUS toeing the party line, you can get subsidies if you get your health care through healthcare.gov. The cheapest I saw there in my case was around $160 a month, and it was actually drastically better than the insurance provided by my employer.

You CAN get packages that run up to $2000 a month (for families), but those packages are basically "You pay the premium and insurance will cover everything."

 

[kevlray]

But my employer requires that unless you are former military or your spouse has insurance, you have to get insurance through them. I can get insurance with smaller co-pays and deductibles, but those are much more expensive.

 

[Rx_]

A group of national technical and legal contractors looked at the new Obamacare tax in a private forum. First they were assured they could keep the insurance that thay had. After it was passed, they received notice that their insurance did not meet the requirements.
They had virtual meetings to see if they could come up with a group policy given the numbers. They eventually determined that the options were too expensive for the reduced coverage. They instead turned to becoming self-insured with a plan to pay the tax penalty. There was the major medical option with something like a $5,000 deductable. But, paying the tax fine seemed to be the more cost effective option.
In my case, my wife had an excellent family plan that covers me.
So, I hope the promise that "if you like your plan, you can keep her..." isn't broken.

Here in Colorado, The Connect for Health board approved a $66.4 million budget for the 2015 fiscal year. From what I read it only offers discounted financial assistance to less than 100,000 people. From personal exprience, those making the Admin Salaries would not be able to get any financial assistance because they make too much.

Besides insurance, I often ask college students or young workers what kind of Student Loans payments they have. Insurance, one can drop and pay a fine. Student Loans can not be defaulted on. The fines are huge and they go on for an entire lifetime. Imagine this salary and paying $400 a month of student loans with no tax deductions.

 

[Frothingslosh]

Who needs to imagine?

 

[Bladerunner]

A group of national technical and legal contractors looked at the new Obamacare tax in a private forum. First they were assured they could keep the insurance that thay had. After it was passed, they received notice that their insurance did not meet the requirements.
They had virtual meetings to see if they could come up with a group policy given the numbers. They eventually determined that the options were too expensive for the reduced coverage. They instead turned to becoming self-insured with a plan to pay the tax penalty. There was the major medical option with something like a $5,000 deductable. But, paying the tax fine seemed to be the more cost effective option.
In my case, my wife had an excellent family plan that covers me.
So, I hope the promise that "if you like your plan, you can keep her..." isn't broken.

Here in Colorado, The Connect for Health board approved a $66.4 million budget for the 2015 fiscal year. From what I read it only offers discounted financial assistance to less than 100,000 people. From personal exprience, those making the Admin Salaries would not be able to get any financial assistance because they make too much.

Besides insurance, I often ask college students or young workers what kind of Student Loans payments they have. Insurance, one can drop and pay a fine. Student Loans can not be defaulted on. The fines are huge and they go on for an entire lifetime. Imagine this salary and paying $400 a month of student loans with no tax deductions.

Unfortunately I am in about the same situation. I had personal insurance through my business. Then when Obama care came, they raised the rates astronomical. I had to drop it. My wife put me on her insurance at work. Now from what I can understand that this year if you are on a family insurance, the employer will have to pay a whole lot more, there by frocing them to drop the family coverage. I hope not but am afraid this is right. All in the name of giving 30 million people who supposedly did not have coverage . Again, only 7 million have signed up, the rest went on Medicaid and about 15 million that had insurance are now without. OH, MY

 

[Rx_]

One group that doesn't read about these low wages.
The Federal Reserve meeting Janet Yellen offically claimed that the economy is improving, that employment is improving and that the proof is in Wall Street's numbers.
It is nice that Fearless Leader who represents the banks has deemed this as the truth.

 

[Frothingslosh]

Well, to be fair, the numbers I've seen all back it. Unemployment is down in the 6%-7% range (from the 8%-9% range), national GDP is way up, jobs are being added to the tune of a few hundred thousand a month, the budget DEFICIT is way down (not national debt, budget deficit), gas prices are way down (but going back up - no way a drop of 50% could last), and the stock market is way, way up.

The main problems I have with the numbers is there's no comparison of actual enemployed change (people not working as opposed to people not looking - it's probably down, but it would be nice to see a history of THOSE numbers), and the fact that the new jobs are mostly poverty-level/minimum-wage jobs, as retailers and the like are experiencing the largest rebounds.

Still, even 200k-300k new $10/hour jobs per month beats the HELL out of shedding a million jobs a month like we were at the end of 2008. Still needs to get better, but it's a start.

Interestingly, places like Kansas, which completely drank the GOP Kool-Aid and blocked minimum wage hikes, gave huge refunds to giant businesses, and slashed social spending are still having complete economic meltdowns (Kansas is looking at slashing the education budget to compensate for the tax cuts given to businesses becaues sales tax income has tanked). Meanwhile, states like Washington that implemented minimum wage hikes and focused on pushing people from poverty to the middle class rather than tax cuts for the ultra-rich are in the midst of an economic boom. Something about more money being circulated, I read.

OH MY

Edit: Oh, yeah, and the ACA enrollment numbers I saw earlier this week indicate 9 million and counting. The 7 million was what was predicted for 2015 when the ACA was passed. No idea where you pulled the 15 million number from, although I can make a couple guesses.

 

[Rx_]

The low salaries are low because so many are looking for work.
The Unemployment numbers have to many "if-then" conditions for many to consider it valid index.

The same department (BLS) also puts out the Labor Participation Rate. It is considered a much more accurate indicator. It is more useful to determine the actual number of people who have money to spend, money to tax for revenues, or other real trends. It is at a 38 year low.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-...-year-low-record-929-million-americans-not-la

As noted, the BLS began to add part-time low paying workers (counted twice if they have two of them) where they didn't use to count part-time workers at all. We use to consider it full-time labor report.

Here in Colorado for example, they passed a special rule for Unemployment. If your employeer gives you a $1.00 a year increase in salary, then you are laid off with-in 1 year, you do not qualify for benefits nor are you counted as being unemployed.
Companies have figured this out because they can save paying the unemployment tax after layoffs. The Denver Post estimated it is around 25% of those laid off.
Our lawmakers all patted themselves on the back for lowering Colorado unemployment. Not to mention, once the unemployment benefits run out, and people are still looking for work, they simply don't count.

The worst part about the Labor Participation Report dropping to new lows? The population of workers increases by around 1.5% per year. So, just to keep even, we would expct this graph to go up 1.5% per year.

As far as the jobs created, many states estimate those numbers without verification. They assume for example that the private sector automatically hires with no validation at all. I worked for years with the State and determined numbers and submitted them to the federal government. We had to use "guidance" as part of the reporting.

Look at this chart then explain how unemployment is low.

 

[Bladerunner]

I really do not agree with raising the minimum wage. In my mind it is a way to group the middle class and the so-called poor class together. Rem, A socialistic society only has two classes. The ruling class and the working class.

Let me ask all those that get a wage above the minimum wage. How did you get there? Did you work hard and get raises? When the minimum wage is raised are you going to get the same amount raise. I doubt it. You see, it is easier to keep the two lower classes together and raising the minimum wage is one of them. It gets you a little closer together all the time.

The other day I saw someone who was retiring from one of the burger joints. Now from what I can understand this person was not a manager nor an owner but a regular worker. A burger flipper I guess. Where was this persons ambition or was the burger joint enough?. Do they get subsidies?. Almost can guarantee they do?.

A while back I was trucking down the highway and one person on the CB stated that he would not work for anything less that $12.00/hr. He could make more money staying at home and drawing unemployment/welfare and food-stamps. Is this really what we want for the USA? People who have no ambition . Do you people really believe that if the minimum wage was raised to $15.00 /hr these type people would go back to work.

As an employer I can tell you that other employers will find a way to minimize the effects of the increase of minimum wages. Be it, using less people or part-time people so they get no benefits. The employer has only a finite amount of money to make ends meet and make a living for himself as well. One might say that corporate Burger place makes all kinds of money. The person that has the franchise does not make that much and he/she is the one paying for the employee.

 

[Bladerunner]

Well, to be fair, the numbers I've seen all back it. Unemployment is down in the 6%-7% range (from the 8%-9% range)

Good Morning Frothingslosh. I know you don't want to hear it but the following url will take you to Fox News with an article from the prestigious (in anybodies book) Gallup CEO on the subject of unemployment. The BIG LIE

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...s-rate-big-lie-put-forth-by-white-house-wall/

p.s. you will not hear this or find this article on CNN, ABC, NBC or CBS.

Have a good day

Blade

 

[Frothingslosh]

Good Morning Frothingslosh. I know you don't want to hear it but the following url will take you to Fox News with an article from the prestigious (in anybodies book) Gallup CEO on the subject of unemployment. The BIG LIE

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...s-rate-big-lie-put-forth-by-white-house-wall/

p.s. you will not hear this or find this article on CNN, ABC, NBC or CBS.

Have a good day

Blade

A) Despite what you so desperately want to believe, I've seen that story on every network you claim isn't carrying it. Days ago.
b) Every administration in the modern era has used the same calculations for unemployment numbers. Blaming Obama for it utterly disingenuous. It's as idiotic as if I were to blame Bush II for adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

[Rx_]

RE: Every administration in the modern era has used the same calculations for unemployment numbers... No, it was changed during Regan and almost every Administration since then.

In addition, each State can also tweek the numbers to make themselves look better and to save money.
Unemployment is about accounting for unemployment payment. It has always had very, very little to do with the actual percent of the population looking for jobs.

For example: When I graduated from Junior College, they actually put me on the Unemployment numbers until I found a job. President Regan changed that with the full approval of both parties.

That is why the exact same department has the Labor Force Participation Rate.
The same department has two completely different measurements that represent different things.
Uner both Bush and Obama, the number of actual workers has been going down.
My argument would be that it is the Federal Reserve QE (Both Bush and Obama) that coorlate to this. QE is for the wealthy while it hurts the wages and employment of the rest of us.

Unemployment is confusing: It is a confusing way to quote some number. The number of people who had the kind of jobs that paid into the Unemployment Insurance, and if they paid in long enough, and they were laid off, and the State qualified them for unemployment benefits... then they count only until the benefits run out. Once benefits run out, they can still be unemployeed, but our government doesn't include them in the Unemployment Rate. Those qulified are then put up against the Labor Participation Rate.
So in theory, we could have 90% of the population loose jobs one quarter. If nobody else was laid off around six months later, they could honestly state we have 0% Unemployment Rate (the change was zero), even with 90% of the workforce looking for work.

Labor Participation Rate is considered more accurate: The percentage of the population of the age and physical ability to work either as an employee or self-employed.
Still not an exact science. However, it is more accurate and used for tax revenue estimates, bond repayments, consumer sales projections, and other economic projections.
The 2nd Chart for the Labor Participation Report above was useful. It shows how the population of potential workers grows each year. So, in theory the Labor Participation Report should grow each year. Regardless of who was President, that has not been the trend for some time.

In my younger days, I calibrated broadcast video recorders in a national network facility. The news media for decades has failed to commit journalism. If the media tried to actually explain anything, the ratings would go down. They always prefer the Hindenburg disaster over facts. The Hindenburg made transportation by Hydrogen something "evil". That is our public's mentality. So, the news media meets our public's expectations. Oh (so much for), the Humanity!

 

[Frothingslosh]

Too little time for full reply, but I'll admit, when I said 'modern era', I pretty much meant 70's on, as I thought it had been changed under Ford or Carter, not Reagan. My bad on that.

 

[Rx_]

LOL, yes in the 1960 we use to watch the series The Mod Squad - for Modern age.
Then came New Age. Not sure what was after that. That just leaves me with Age.

 

[Bladerunner]

A) Despite what you so desperately want to believe, I've seen that story on every network you claim isn't carrying it. Days ago.
b) Every administration in the modern era has used the same calculations for unemployment numbers. Blaming Obama for it utterly disingenuous. It's as idiotic as if I were to blame Bush II for adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.

Hate to tell you but I run every news organization (ABC, MSNBC,CBSNEWs, CNN) and put in Gallup CEO in the search category. to its credit MSNBC did bring an two post article up about the highlites of what he said:"It is a big lie". That is all they stated.

On the other hand, you go to fox news and put in gallup ceo and you get a video of exactly what he said on Feb. 05, 2015 - 4:49.. not days ago. How good would Obama and company look if the 10-12% unemployement/particitpation was hanging over our heads. Yes, Obama dna his cronies have lied before, why not lie about the unemployement. It is my opinion that they are also lying about the economy. Yes, to the people making good money it may be great but here in the trenches (something you have passed by) it is a little different.

Blade.

 

[Frothingslosh]

Combared to Shrub and his miserable numbers in the same category? My guess would be pretty damned good. But then, we all know you refuse to accept reality and will just twist everything to match what you want it to be.

Blah blah blah we all know you're convinced Obama is the antichrist and that you cannot handle a black liberal as president. Obama, however, is not the one lying to the middle class and trying to convince them that making rich people richer will magically sprinkle faerie dust on the middle class and bring them to a land of good and plenty. Obama is not the person who demanded the evidence of 9/11 be twisted to blame Saddam Hussein, who convinced weak-minded hatemongers like you that Iraq was behind 9/11 despite all the evidence to the contrary, who lied to the UN about Iraq and WMD's, who implemented torture and permanent illegal detention without trials, who stripped numerous rights and protections against illegal search and seizure, and who illegally invaded a sovereign nation just because he didn't like its leader. He's not the one who pushes constantly to give big money more and more power over America, who is always attempting to force his religion down everyone else's throat, who is trying to demonize the poor for being poor, who feels that poor people literally deserve to starve, who is trying to legalize hatred and discrimination. The fact of the matter is that Obama pushes to fix things that are broken and areas where America truly does need to improve, while those you worship such as your sainted G.W. Bush have done everything they can to drag America into the dirt.

You always blather on about some grand conspiracy to destroy America, but the truth is that the biggest threat America faces today is you and those like you who work ceaselessly to destroy the freedoms our founding fathers fought for.

(Hey, alliteration!)

 

[Frothingslosh]

Hmm....also, I appear to be irritable today.