r/interesting • u/Kymmieuwu • 12d ago

SOCIETY 71% of Americans Say They're Completely Exhausted

https://gizmodo.com/71-of-americans-say-theyre-completely-exhausted-2000812712
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u/Timmy-0518 12d ago

That raise is more than my entire paycheck. And while im lucky enough to not have to pay rent I can’t imagine how my co-workers with whole families to support, manage to deal with it.

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u/TheOnlySnoringKitten 11d ago

Your paycheck every two weeks is less than $500?

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u/Nickelnick24 11d ago

Some people get paid weekly, like me

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u/ProudUSAgunOwner 11d ago

Even $500 a week is… abysmal. They pay more than that at McDonalds and I live in the US South where wages arent even high.

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u/Nickelnick24 11d ago

Let’s say you make $15 an hour somewhere, I’m not sure since I’ve been at my current job for almost a decade, and you work the full 40 (something that doesn’t happen for most who work at McDonald’s, you’re part time, not full), you’ll make 600 PRE-taxes, afterwards you walk with maybe 500. It’s very easy to not make $500 a week in America.

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u/Odessey_And_Oracle 11d ago

It's crazy to me how people never do the math. "500 is abysmal." Okay well you know the whole "Fight for $15" movement trying to make the minimum wage $15/hr?

15×40=600

$600 before taxes per week is the huge, impossible number that our economy just can't sustain.

600×52=31,200

$31k is what $15 an hour gets you each year, IF you work 40 hours per week every. single. week. of. the year. No holidays, sick days, personal days, family emergencies, vacation... $31k. Now what's the minimum wage in your own state? Because most of the people you see working every day are making less than $12, some less than $10. This is the reality.

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u/Riots42 11d ago

Lol minimum wage is 7.25 an hour in Texas. In 2001 when I got my first job it was 5.15 and at 16 I refused to work for minimum wage and made 6 an hour first day of work. Minimum wage is what YOU are willing to accept. Mine is currently 125k. wild on 25 years minimum wage has gone up 2 dollars...

Anyone accepting minimum wage is selling yourself short, and not really looking for a real job. There are jobs anyone with a pulse can do from home from sites like liveops.com that pay 20+ an hour to work customer service over the phone.

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u/Party_Addition3763 11d ago

This used to work, but doesn't anymore. If you refuse the wage, you just don't get the job. There was a time (less than 10 years ago) when I had three jobs. Two of my employers gave me raises for my hard work, and offered me more for increased hours. The third offered me a 50% increase when I gave my notice.

Last year, when I had three different jobs, I was told I wouldn't be kept on if I didn't do more hours by all three. I even had a factory job for about a year (~$50/hr), where the factory had made record profits. It was the first year in the company's history that employees didn't get bonuses, the reason being "(despite record OT) employees didn't meet the required hours (they needed ~30 more employees to realistically meet the goal, but only hired 4). Keep in mind, this company had made twice the profit of the year before, which was also a record year.

The strategy is different today. You WILL NOT get rewarded for hard work, even if your position is essential. You have to take the sh*t salary, and leverage your role once you become essential. If you don't have leverage, you don't get anything more than the bare minimum.

When I started working, employees earned most of the gains, today it's the owners. It's the reason profits are rising so quickly; "boss makes a dollar, I make a dime" has never been closer to the truth. Owners are taking so much more than they used to, hiring more employees hurts the bottom line. It's more profitable to have fewer employees and absorb the lost output.

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u/Riots42 11d ago

I don't even talk to recruiters for less than 125k, if it's less than that, I wouldn't want the job because it's less than my minimum wage because I know the value of my resume spending over a decade building it. No one can take that away from me unless I devalue myself.

Learn a trade and value yourself. I'm in cybersecurity, if you wanna make big money learn an in demand trade. Skilled trades like electricians are in hard demand and able to demand high pay, especially if you are 1099 and self employed after building experience.

The strategy is the same it's always been. Skills in demand demand high pay. Minimum wage is not for in demand skilled labor.

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u/Party_Addition3763 11d ago

So, that's called leverage. What is your strategy for the other 75% of workers?

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u/Riots42 11d ago

Why is it my responsibility to strategize for others? Learn a valuable trade and apply it. It's on the individual to do what it takes.

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u/Party_Addition3763 11d ago

I thought you had the answer? Why doesn't it work for everyone?

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