Quote:I did get some well needed rest, thanks.

 

I should clarify something though.  I have a "day job" that is pretty standard as far as salary that I've done for several years.  I also "freelance" on occasion if the job interests me enough.  The freelance work is where I can pretty much name my price and I must admit, that particular skill set is kind of rare and unique.  What I was pointing out though is that my experience with employers has always been positive.  I have never been fired from a job or left on bad terms.  As I said before I've even had employers that I was leaving try to match or exceed the offer that I got from my next employer.  Companies/corporations aren't out to "screw their employees" as
some have tried to imply.

 

Contrary to your earlier post, every job has a certain value/dollar figure associated with it.  I forget what the exact term for it is, but it's basically the cost that a company considers your job is worth.  Let's say that a person earns an hourly wage of $20 per hour.  That's actually not the value of that job.  Employers also figure in the cost of benefits such as time off, health insurance, workman's compensation insurance, etc.  The cost of taxes is also figured in.  They also figure in a certain amount of profit that they make from that job.  So in all reality, to the company that pays a wage of $20 per hour, the job actually has a value to the company more along the lines of say $60 per hour or more.  How that $60 per hour is paid out makes no difference, so if they negotiate a contract with a union and the union says that the salary should be $25 per hour, the company will agree, but that extra $5 per hour comes from somewhere else in the form of a lesser benefit or a lower tax rate.

That's your experience with having a very unique and rare skill, which is certainly not the norm. Not trying to downplay your accomplishments (cause I don't know them), but anyone who was working in 80's and 90's has a huge advantage over people who started in the last 8-10 years especially. They came up in a more prosperous generation which had easier access to the tools and opportunities to develop more unique skills and ability. Sure we have some of those opportunities now, but they aren't nearly as good as they were. The internet isn't new anymore, Unemployment is nowhere near 3% on the E6 like it used to be. Schooling costs 4 to 8x as much as it used to 25 to 35 years ago. Wages have been stagnant for most of the decade. It is what it is.

 

Even in fields with specialization there is always a push to replace with cheaper options as soon as possible. In most fields the company is always trying to replace you with a cheaper option or outsource, or move. Engineering, manufacturing, even healthcare 'the recession proof' profession. They import Doctors and nurses for cheaper and give them substandard wages for 3 years using H1B program to drive down wages. And then they introduce newer less skilled, but 'close enough' providers to fill the gap (see midlevels replacing primary care Doctors). Globalization has killed opportunity the last 25 years.

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