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Comment by kuyaab | Hacker News Reader

It’s incredible how hard it’s been for retail and service companies to recruit lower-wage workers her in the South Bay. Mike Rowe and tech execs love to talk about skills gaps, but the fact is most jobs aren’t filled because the compensation these positions offer is garbage.

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Mike Rowe isn’t talking about unskilled labor. He’s talking about skilled labor like plumbing, carpentry, welding, electricians, etc. Not a stock boy and the like.

Might be anecdotal, but hooo weee, if you are a good electrician right now, you can essentially name your price. Companies will pay it because they aren't willing to take the risk of having it done wrong. Family knows a couple career electricians -- company is paying for them to come out of retirement, paying $50-55 an hour, AND letting them keep their retirement benefits.

I would have expected "name your price" electrician work to be more in the $100-120/hr range in a high-CoL area.

You are right -- I live in a low CoL area. 55 dollars an hour is astronomical. I would expect it to be double as well.

Is it still high after factoring in paying for your own insurance and tax?

That's cheap. In the Bay Area, even doubling that is cheap. Take a look at this discussion [1] by electricians of what their businesses costs to run, especially the trade-specific section.

There is a fundamental disconnect in daily life between perceptions of what a job entails and its true costs. No wonder management and purchasing departments everywhere is constantly underestimating effort and costs, then getting pissed when risks and quality issues come up.

[1] https://www.electriciantalk.com/f2/why-do-you-charge-so-much...

There is a minimum wage of $15 in many of the cities, but the high cost of living makes that hardly enough.

> There is a minimum wage of $15 in many of the cities

“Many” may be an exaggeration: Berkeley, Emeryville, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and San Francisco.

Fair enough...I've pretty much only lived/worked in SF and MV/SV/SC so my perspective is centered around them.

They are offering jobs starting at $15 either way. I walked by a fast food shop that is not in those cities offering $15-$21/hour jobs recently.

Demonstrating that labour markets are regional.

I think hardly enough is quite an understatement.

You can get very close to making about half of what you need to live!

They're trapped - probably unable to even scrape together the money to move. Moving is expensive! You need the money not only to relocate, but also to tide you over until you find work. Casual mobility is for the wealthy.

It isn't just that, many low wage people have their families there. Sometimes extended family. Moving would mean moving the whole clan away from friends and their connections and where they grew up. Moving is not a small thing.

Exactly this. Moving elsewhere when your extended family has lived in one place for multiple generations is probably one of the largest risks a person can take. You’re essentially trading most or all of your network for the possibility of a better life. If the possibility doesn’t work out, the person is usually worse off than if had they stayed in their original location.

And no childcare for their children.

henry george strikes again!

Not to mention that less wealthy people often rely on extended family for support such as childcare. For many people, leaving family behind is a risk not worth taking.

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