Question What's wrong with this picture?

[MapNerd]

And it takes hundreds if not thousands of hours to build the Prevost and the Marathon conversion giving work to many, many individuals. If a company doesn’t make a profit it will not be in business long. If the business is gone the loss of jobs follow.

Nothing wrong with profit. It’s needed for companies to survive. But companies these days do not seem to realize that their profit comes from their employees and that if they fail to keep up with inflation , if they continue to shower the top ranks with golden parachutes while the lower ranks get just enough, then their product will suffer because the workers are not incentived to produce a product that is as quality under the skin as it is on the surface.

Take care of your employees and they will take care of the customer, and everything else.

 

[MapNerd]

That is a starting salary of $50,000/yr. People today don’t seem to understand starting pay ishoukd not be final pay. Hopefully, pay will increase with experience.

Sure, it’s not final pay.

If you work really hard and we all do a good job, you might get a 3% annual wage increase.

Inflation meanwhile is at 5-6%.

 

[AbdRahim]

That

Sure, it’s not final pay.

If you work really hard and we all do a good job, you might get a 3% annual wage increase.

Inflation meanwhile is at 5-6%.

That is why you work towards promotions and not just the average yearly pay Increase. Someone once said - if you work more than you get paid, eventually you will be paid more than you work. Those that move up the ladder pay their dues for the salaries they command.

Metting minimum requirement yields minimum pay. The stars rise to the top.

Inflation is not the companies concern. In years gone by people went to school on their time, or worked a second job to get ahead. Today no one wants to pay their dues.

 

[MapNerd]

That

is why you work towards promotions and not just the average yearly pay. Someone once said - if you work more than you get paid, eventually you will be paid more than you work. Those that move up the ladder pay their dues for the salaries they command.

if only the world still worked that way. Very few companies these days promote from within rather than hire externally.

How many executives or even middle managers today started “on the front lines” of the company? Exceedingly few.

 

[AbdRahim]

Today a career may involve working for multiple employers, and in two or more different fields in one career.

 

[MapNerd]

Today a career may involve working for multiple employers, and in two or more different fields in one career.

This.

One thing I have taught my children and frankly, shared with any young professional looking for advice is to have no corporate loyalty. That’s not to advocate for doing illegal or even immoral things, but simply take care of yourself first. The days of a lifetime pension and gold Rolex after 30+ years of dedicated, loyal service to a company are long gone. I get asked every once in a while how I got where I am, so (relatively) fast and the answer is unfortunately, that I changed companies every few years. Not because I wanted to, because I had to.

 

[Neal]

Newmar couldn't offer rates at this level due to the competition in the Elkhart area. If you're in a remote location such as Marathon, presumably, it can be to your advantage to pay less as a business but you won't get the people or skills. If you want people to relocate then you better anty up. Importing great people to do great work would be an option if pay wasn't an insult. I can't imagine how hard it is for HWH to get their mission done in that remote location of Moscow, IA. And obviously it's become a problem as HWH Active Air installs are suspended for this reason.

 

[sheridany]

 

[sheridany]

 

[Neal]

Certainly a very good and insightful thread that answers a lot of questions about why things are the way they are and why it's important to learn to work on your RV and have communities such as this to help each other.

 

[MapNerd]

If you post an entry-level job, you can't require any experience. If you require experience, you need to pay more than entry-level pay.

I mean, it just doesn’t seem like rocket science to me. It’s simple supply and demand. When a supply is limited (in this case the supply is the labor pool of RV technicians), then the cost per unit increases, meaning you have to pay more for each worker.

As you increase wages, more people will be attracted to that job and supply will increase allowing you to stabilize wages or possibly reduce them through attrition.

$52k is nothing to sneeze at, but when demand for the product is at all time highs and the labor pool is thin, seems to me that if you want to keep your lines running maybe you should increase wages.

Doesn’t matter if you’re selling million dollar coaches or toothbrushes.

 

[sheridany]

Doesn’t matter if you’re selling million dollar coaches or toothbrushes.

Yes to a point. They still have to make a profit albeit sometimes a lot of profit to appease all the shareholders (institutional investors) desire to grow earnings per share every quarter. Every company will say they pay competitively in that local geography however they arrive at those numbers. At the end of the day, profit always wins.

 

[STANDERSON]

My starting salary the first year in the USN was $4400. That was per year. Everyone wants to start as CEO and not the person who sweeps the floors.

 

[Neal]

I think starting Google / Facebook salaries for software engineers are around 500-600K. Get a book and learn to code!

Self Warned:

 

[sheridany]

I think starting Google / Facebook salaries for software engineers are around 500-600K. Get a book and learn to code!

There is truth in that and the competition is fierce. There only so many talented data scientists or systems engineers available and the growth trajectory is like a rocket. Let’s not forget your fav. Amazon. You should see how many facilities they have in LV since I was here last time. Signs outside HIRING. 18.00/hr.

 

[J&JD]

I think starting Google / Facebook salaries for software engineers are around 500-600K. Get a book and learn to code!

Self Warned:

When our coach spent a month at Redding Freightliner in Northern California, several conversations with the service manager always ended with him bemoaning the lack of techs to work on the coach. Between Covid and the fact that no one seemed to want to work no matter if they increased compensation, he had no qualified techs to work on our coach. It took two weeks, AFTER THE PARTS ARRIVED, before our DEF head was replaced.
I believe compensation is really only a part of this nationwide problem.

 

[sanda]

Companies usually pay about 10% of what each employee brings in. $25 / hr with no experience, no college degree? That is a starting salary of $50,000/yr. People today don’t seem to understand starting pay ishoukd not be final pay. Hopefully, pay will increase with experience.

The people that don't understand starting pay are probably the same that say McDonalds should pay a 'livable' wage. Fast food was never expected to make a living at but rather for younger folks to make spending money while in school.

 

[RKins]

The people that don't understand starting pay are probably the same that say McDonalds should pay a 'livable' wage. Fast food was never expected to make a living at but rather for younger folks to make spending money while in school.

Yup, exploiting the young for profit. I never saw any marketing when I was a kid that sought out high school kids to work fast food. It was and still is a sham for a reason to pay poor salaries for good profits. Mcdonalds was in the news in the past couple days for record profits.

 

[bpaikman]

I was surprised to see the salaries for RV Techs. Seems quite low compared to other types of tech jobs.
Supply and demand.... and "You get what you pay for".

 

[Old Bubblehead]

Marathon has been around for a good while, I'm sure their seasoned hands make decent money. Skilled people vote with their feet, don't treat them right and they move on. Companies with stable work forces have hit the right formula with pay, benefits, and working conditions.
Entry level workers are a whole different ball game, OJT is expensive. You have to have a confirmed level of skill and knowledge prior to turning them loose on expensive coaches. Or you have horrendous warranty claims. Getting them in the door these days is tough.
Uncle Sam is the only one I have seen that can survive turning barely trained teenagers loose on billion dollar gear.