Bust A Move.

A while back I posted a thread complaining about how I was grossly under compensated for my skills. You can read that If your so inclined i believe its titled "whats fair pay these days" or something very similar. Anyways, I took a job as a Mechanical Engineer down South near Seattle, Solid company, pay is reasonable, they take of their employees, benefits, etc. Been there almost 5 months. I'm a happy camper, plus I actually have money at the end of the month for like buying things other than food gas and rent! You know the three essential things a slave needs to survive so they can make it in to work the next day.

In the area I was formerly in pay was shit, limited opportunities, no competition for talent, zero benefits. This was how it was in the entire county across the board, not just the few places I worked at. I am about to head up there today to do some fishin. I guess my point is if it ain't workin out sometimes you have to move on. Literally ! I see way too many people grinding it out for months, years, hoping for a better day that probably wont come. No one is looking out for your interests except yourself. I would compare the job / opportunity / talent hunt to fishing, if your fishing in a lousy pond with a few scrappy underweight fish chances are you'll always be frustrated. If your fishing a big healthy lake with a robust population, law of averages says you'll end up doing Okay.

Did it in 2010...haven't looked back, great people but horrible take on employee compensation lol. I visit from time time as I spent 10 years there starting when I was 18.

zberto, your situation is common. It worries economists. There are many places in America where there is a surplus of jobs, and other places where there is a surplus of workers. But people are much more hesitant to move to places with better job prospects and wages than they were in previous decades.

Congratulations on your moving to a new location and finding enjoyable employment with better wages.

As a shop owner, just about every employee you ask is underpaid. Just sayin'.

Unfortunately most of the time a machinist needs to move around to climb the pay scale as much as possible. I worked at 8 different shops in the 17 years before I struck out on my own. I would be curious on the reasons for this as when I had employees during self employment and when I supervised people working for others I would always considered what it would cost to replace some one when it came to giving raises. I don't care if a guy was 24 with only 3 years experience if he could do what the average 35 year old with 10 years experience could do that is the pay he deserved. On the other hand if a guy had 25 years experiences in the form of one years experience 25 times that is what he is worth. On the other hand a lot of people think they are 3x more skilled than they really are.

Wild West said:

As a shop owner, just about every employee you ask is underpaid. Just sayin'.

Click to expand...

Just as every man in prison is innocent.

Take my word for it I was underpaid. They (management) couldn't distinguish the good people from the bad ones. Those who produced made just as much or in some cases way less than those who either added zero value to the organization or were causing the business to hemorrhage cubic dollars (family in mgmt). Lousy employees eventually did get let go, but after the damage had already been done many, many, times over. IMO these people shouldn't have been hired in the first place. Good people moved on fairly quickly. They would always be scratching there heads as to why this was the case. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over hoping for different results. Those who succeed in whatever it may be learn from their mistakes and apply past experiences towards a winning strategy, or pattern or behavior. Old habits die hard, and the losers never seem to adapt. Instead they keep putting their coins in the slot machine for eternity hoping for the "Big Win" someday.

At my last job I was definitely underpaid. The boat anchor is still there plugging away, taking 30 days to do a job I would do in five. Didn't know it was that bad until they forced me to share a project with him and we were 4 weeks late waiting for his work! I asked another engineer why they hadn't replaced me after two years. He said they haven't found the two guys that could what I did yet!

Unfortunately I am still way underpaid at $90K at my current job. I've been here 4 years and took the job with the expectation of $125K by now. Problem is a big part of my compensation is tied to things I invent. When they take me off task for bullshit jobs the delivery of the stuff I was hired for gets kicked down the road. If you are in your 30s no big deal, eventually you can catch up. I'm 64 so the clock could easily run out on me.

I suppose I got a little off track with this thread. It wasn't supposed to be about me and my shiny new job. But rather an observation I have a made from my time in industry (I'm still a young guy, graduated university 4 yrs ago.) and the few years I have been a lurker on PM. Although there are some excellent threads on this forum, and one can get many unique perspectives as well learn things from 30 year veterans. This simply would not have been possible before the internet. I see the same questions popping up every other day. "New machine shop need help....", "Motivating employees...", etc. Every time there is the same generic answers. I used to think I could have my cake and eat it too, that is slowly chip away at things, not put myself out there too much and still achieve success. I feel like in today's world and business climate one has to go all in. The businesses I have worked that have been very successful the owner(s) took tremendous financial risks, sacrificed great amounts of time, placed large amounts of trust in their employees, and lastly stood behind their product. Reputation was critical.

All those things came before them going and buying the fastest, biggest, smartest, most accurate, insert adjective: milling/turning/mill-turn/5 axis/cell system/swiss money could buy(although I have seen some crazy machines, please ask me about it.). The places I have seen always struggle it seems like did the exact opposite. No faith in there employees, half ass everything, no pride in their work or attempt to maintain a solid reputation even if that means losing money on a job.If something isn't right is always an employee's / vendor's / government / customers fault and eventually will be their problem. And lastly always trying to use someones else's money to cover up for their shortcomings. I think all of this stems from a lack of confidence in whatever the business model is or the product being sold. Hence the lack of commitment. Its like the Young MC Song, i feel like the only way to succeed is to bust a move.