A while back, some people had some negative comments about articles a fellow team member wrote for the Huffington Post's Small Business Section about wages paid by some US outsourcing companies. They accused companies, such as Rural America OnShore Outsourcing, of paying their employees "peanuts" and "slave wages," in order to compete with offshore outsourcing firms. They implied - harshly - that our team members' salaries "couldn't possibly be enough to live on."
We realized these were likely just reactionary comments by people who did not actually live in a small, rural community - as most of the RAOO team members do - but we decided to put our claims to the test with something other than just personal stories. We know, for example, that in the town where our corporate headquarters resides, we can go out to the local supper club tonight and get a great steak with all the fixings for less than $20, around $15 for prime rib when it's the special of the night. That's at least half of what someone would pay in Chicago. Top it off with a pint of beer for about $2.50 (rather than $5 or $6 in Chicago) - that's a pretty cheap night on the town.
But, we wanted to back up these stories with a little research.
So I asked two of my Rural America colleagues, Julie Berglund and Karen Johnson, to share their results.
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The only real problem: how many jobs are there, in affordable areas, that pay that well? In exchange for good money and an affordable place to live, I'm often far away from friends and family, working very long hours, and with few of the conveniences of modern life. My job is really only accessible because I'm not especially tied to one particular place. We don't really have these kinds of jobs for more anchored people, and it's difficult to find a good job that pays well combined with making enough money to be able to afford to live near your job.
Car prices are pretty uniform all over. Plus, there's a larger population base to draw from as far as used cars go.
> and be paying far more for gas that I'd use far more of due to constant city driving.
First off, gas prices aren't THAT different in different areas. Second, population density means both less driving (since everything isn't scattered), as well as public transportation. Even better, in major cities you don't even need to own a car, meaning you can save thousands of dollars a year.
> Houses are insanely expensive,
Then rent. There are TONS of stories of people who moved to rural areas for jobs, bought houses, then lost all their money when they lost their jobs and couldn't sell the home to move to a region with actual jobs.
Plus, worst of all, you're living somewhere that thinks going to WalMart is culture.
Buckarette: Thank you for pointing out the fallacy. More important than wages is to question what people are DOING, and whether what they are doing is needed sometime in the future after they do it. How much they get paid should reflect whether or not they are valuable to the future, not how valuable they are to the money system.
I check on tech jobs all the time, where are they most prevalent? New York city. Check the cost of living there.
A few years back my company manufactured clothing, the company was in rural Ohio. The farmers wives would get up at 4:00 Am, get their farmers and families fed and on their way. The ladies would then go to the (huge) facilities and sew till noon, and be home in time for lunch. Everybody seemed to be just fine.
I am sure the owners were tempted to have the process done offshore but this company had been making clothes at this facility since they made uniforms for the Union troops in the 1860s.
The twenty first century is the century of economics. China knows it, India knows it, Brazil knows it and they are growing their economies. We (in the west) are still on the spend and send pillage economy of the twentieth century. Costly empire building, wars, jets, carriers and standing armies.. while sending our cash overseas.
If they are skilled in modern programming technologies and taking that low of a wage, I know they are selling themselves short even for a first job out of college. I've been hearing for at least 3-4 years now a huge desire to end all outsourcing. The hold up hasn't been wages, because all outsourced programming comes back to American programmers to avoid the huge quality issues. It costs more money even paying them less. There aren't enough American programmers though. and companies are willing to find them wherever they are for at minimum $30/hour straight out of college. So even though cost of living is down, if the job is non-location dependant, and you are paying much less than in the city, you are still ripping off the worker who could make much more. You are setting up the companies that use you to have a revolving door of inexperienced employees who leave the second they learn they are under paid.
This article falls flat because people know it isn't true. Even if it is true of this one company, it isn't true of most people and most jobs. The reality for most of those people is minimum wage or a few dollars higher. Breaking twelve bucks an hour is a big deal. Twenty five is pie in the sky.