Low pay for workers is undermining our society. It's the root cause of the federal deficit and robs Social Security and Medicare of billions of dollars each year. In Better Worker Earnings I asked you to make a commitment to look for a job that pays better. This is the second weekly opportunity for you to let us know whether you took the pledge and how it's been working for you.
It doesn’t take much to move the ball in the right direction. Wages have been depressed for years. At some point that pressure will break, and just a small change maybe the turnaround point. So, consider where you could find a new job, one that pays more. It could even be in your own company.
Not that it’s easy. I’ve made some progress, but mainly that’s been getting my actual work history together. I have to check my records to get accurate timeframes for when I changed jobs. Perhaps one of the curses of getting older is that there’s more history, so there’s more opportunity for misremembering important dates.
Did you run into any problems as you prepared to go after new work? What’s your experience?
Here are ideas you might want to cover in your comments:
- Did you commit?
- Did you update your resume?
- Did you update your online profiles?
- Did you call any companies?
- Did you set up or go on an informational interview?
- Did you get a job offer?
- Does it pay more? By what percentage?
- Did you take a new job?
These are just ideas, and I'd like to hear any response you've had. What happened this week? Are you on the road to better pay?
The combined force of all workers using the job market to seek higher pay at the same time forces the market to respond. It creates movement. Each worker who succeeds in pulling down higher wages opens a job opportunity for a new worker to come in and take the job left behind. The higher pay goes out into the economy and creates more money flow, which results in more jobs.
So, do your part!
Think economically. Act individually.
Good luck on your new job!