To think that jobs should be better paid

[heatherwithapee]

I’m in job hunting currently. I’m coming across so many jobs that want a decent amount of experience AND qualifications yet barely pay above minimum wage.

See attached job advert. They want 3 years’ work experience, a bachelor degree, fluency in English and German (plus ideally other languages too) and knowledge of electronics parts. The salary is £24500-£25000.

Minimum wage (assuming a 37.5hr week) is £23800, rising to £24784 from April.

So all those qualifications and experience and they barely pay above minimum wage? Really?

What is the job?
I can't see a job title.

I don't really understand what your point is.
Yes it seems low-ish for a graduate but it's not clear what the job is other than doing something on e-commerce.

The simple answer is you don't need to apply for it!

Companies pay what they can afford. If they don't get any applicants they will re-think the salary.

Most people who apply for any job only meet about half the so-called "essential" criteria. They are expecting a mix of applicants some of which have 3 years experience, some of which can speak a bit of french or german and some of which have some of the other skills listed. If you meet all these criteria you are aiming too low, and should be aiming at jobs that require this much plus another 3 or 4 things that you don't yet meet (but would like to)

I think you need to give the job title.

It could be a call centre role, answering customer queries.

And location is also relevant.
If it's WFH/ remote it may appeal to more people as it won't involve travel costs.

I think it's a call centre/ customer for electronic products, produced in Germany.
They most likely want someone with German as their first language or someone bilingual.

Unless that is a wfh job or in an area that is short on employment, I imagine they don't hang on to their staff for long. Not at that salary.

I guess they are still operating in a climate where having a degree is pretty standard for most and possibly going after young people who are still living at home and wanting a foot in the door.

It's a difficult market at the moment for job seekers. The company will pay whatever they can get away with! If they offer this salary and still get decent applicants then why would they pay more?

I'm guessing it's a trouble-shooting, online role for laptops, phones or other personal devices.

The person employed will likely follow a script and try to solve the customers' issues.

Some companies use AI to write job specs and they are often in excess of what the job really needs.

They will bung in some key areas to AI and the job spec will be churned out!

It's not likely to be a grad job but they want someone with some education beyond A level.

Eden Project want a Senior PR Specialist with 5 years experience for £28,000!

YANBU

Salaries are similar to about 2012 ish (where I am). House prices and rent are not

I work in a very small business and my DH runs one. Trading conditions are tough and there just isn't a lot of money to spare. Any hires we would make this year would have to be very carefully considered.

I’ve seen it a lot. Also, new graduates rapidly accelerating to £30k - which used to be a decent salary, then getting stuck. And those that are in the £30ks struggling to find anything to move to because all the jobs are advertised at new starter salaries.
It’s a tough market for sure.
It feels like there are jobs at the top and bottom but the middle is stuck.

It might help to see it from the employers point of view, the pay they offer needs to be sufficient to attract a suitable employee.

I have needed to pay more for some roles than others, I also know that employing someone new has a degree of risk, so if I already employ someone that I would like to retain I pay them more.

You could say I should pay my employees more if I can afford it, and on occasions I have, but ultimately my objective is to keep the business running and them employed.

Like it or not, rates of pay are determined by availability of suitable people, not directly what they actually do.

This is no different from the way the rest of a capitalist economy works, essentially supply and demand.

Yes I get that in many respects it could be a good basic call centre job for a bilingual graduate and the salary would reflect that. But then they go on to say they want 3 years’ work experience. So you’re looking at a graduate who’s been working for 3 years (so age 24+) and barely paying above minimum wage?

salaries are shit and have stagnated for years.

100% agree. Salary at the lower end of the spectrum are a piss take. Almost minimum wage and want an intelligent, educated, hardworking, dedicated individual. There is light at the end of the tunnel though..when your older and more experienced (£60+) level, the jumps get much larger..so not uncommon to jump £20k+ from one role to next.

Yet how many threads are there on here from people complaining that X is way too much for a job?

You can’t have it both ways - if you think people should earn more then you have to be prepared to pay more to cover the costs.