Wednesday, December 3, 2008

from Denise: The Benefits of a Higher Education

Okay, well, I'm a virgin blogger too so let's see if I can embarrass myself. At least you'll have Karey's posts to read until Steve gets back.

Speaking of, Steve is alive and well in Nepal, at least as of this morning. They're headed to the Himalayas and have been wandering all over the place. I believe Steve is single-handedly reviving their economy with his self-described awesome bargaining skills. I'm glad to hear he's having a good time.

So he's still got a few days of vacation left and I'm just coming off of mine. My husband Jason and I went to Des Moines (Iowa...yeah, I know..."why?") for some holiday shopping and quality time away from work. Tomorrow I have to go back and face 132 emails (I just looked) and a weekly meeting with my supervisor. It's salary review time in our little camp and so I have to enter "my" recommended salary raises into our HR system so they can be officially approved and applied. I put quotations around "my" because I make suggestions, but rarely do I get what I ask for: sometimes good for the employees, sometimes not so much. I saw on the news tonight that the UAW has agreed to make some concessions for the auto makers for their bailout. The newscast said that GM workers average over $73/hour with benefits. Toyota workers make $44/hour. I obviously wasted four years of my life pursuing a higher education. At the rate I've been receiving raises, I may see $44 around 2012.

Not that I'm complaining. After all, I like turtles.

3 comments:

  1. Well Denise, at least you might see $44 an hour soon. As a social worker (currently stay-at-home mom) I will probably see $44 an hour in about the year I retire - if that! I definitely picked the wrong profession as far as money goes! Oh and did I add that I have a masters' degree in social work and still will end up making crap for a salary?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Apparently there is some doubt as to whether that dollar amount is correct. On Keith Olbermann's show he said, I think I am remembering correctly, the accurate amount before benefits is maybe $30-something. I wish I could remember more accurately. He did comment that the $70+ figure was based on some discomobulated (?) calculations.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dottie - I've since read the same thing. But actually $30/hour sounds good too.

    As for our social worker, at least you're racking up good karma points. I'm just a corporate sellout.

    ReplyDelete