Posted on 10/11/2015 6:09:16 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Minimum-wage jobs are meant to be the first rung on a career ladder, a chance for entry-level workers to prove themselves before earning a promotion or moving on to other, better-paying jobs. But a growing number of Americans are getting stuck on that first rung for years, if they ever move up at all.
Anthony Kemp is one of them. In 2006, he took a job as a cook at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Oak Park, Illinois. The job paid the state minimum wage, $6.50 an hour at the time, but Kemp figured he could work his way up.
“Normally, a good cook would make $14, $15, $17 an hour,” Kemp said. “I thought that of course I’d make a better wage.”
He never did; nine years later, the only raises Kemp, 44, has seen have been the ones required by state law. He earns $8.25, the state’s current minimum wage.
Stories like Kemp’s are becoming more common. During the strong labor market of the mid-1990s, only 1 in 5 minimum-wage workers was still earning minimum wage a year later...
(Excerpt) Read more at fivethirtyeight.com ...
70K a year is still 70K a year, jobs paying such a salary aren’t exactly thick on the ground in most of the country. Was it insulting to his top performers? Probably. I hope they didn’t walk off in a huff though, they may end up regretting that decision.
[fast food]
Not ‘fast food’. Good food, quickly. /Kenny Roger’s Roaster’s assistant manager Seth.
I know what a short-order cooks does.
What does a KFC cook actually do ?
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/this-is-how-kfc-actually-makes-their-fried-chicken-from-1651170230
An AMBITIOUS individual, truly looking to better their station in life would NEVER have remained at a minimum wage job for NINE YEARS.
Conclusion: this is NOT an ambitious individual.
What world do you live in? The US is anything but a free market, and you fool only yourself if you believe otherwise.
This reminds me of when I worked at Taco Bell as a teenager. They had something called the "Silver Bell" program.
Where you learned and studied to be proficient in every task at the store.
Once completed, you got a silver-colored name badge and a raise.
I know it sounds silly, but I *wanted* that badge, so I did it.
I forget the "raise", probably 10-20 cents per hour, but dammit, I did it.
One of the best life experiences you can have is to work for minimum wage.
Because it makes you realize that you DON'T want to STAY at minimum wage.
Only a fool would.
“I did stick it out and graduated from high school. “
You are right the guy should have stayed in school a bit longer. But just as importantly he should have worked to develop skills that are needed. He could have, even without a high school diploma, enrolled in a culinary arts institute. You don’t develop the skills used in good restaurants that pay more frying chicken at KFC. You can’t be a manager of the KFC without a high school diploma.
I admire the guy for continuing to work but he would have been better going into a field like landscaping or construction where hard work pays off. Roofers can make a good living
I am the exception that proves this rule in that I have neither a valid HS diploma or a valid GED.
I dropped out at 16 and took a GED before I was eligible because it was obvious to me that me teachers knew less than I did about almost every subject. The ISD would not let me back in school because I’d passed the GED but the State wouldn’t give me a GED because I was 16. I took a SAT and scored 1475 when 1600 was a perfect score (I was 16 and had not preparation) That score got me into university. I have a BA (US History), a MLIS (Academic Libraries)a MA (Asian Studies) and a PhD (Educational Philosophy)
I retired as the Head of Catalog for a university library system
I’m not a snob. I happen to love a burger and fries. Today I indulged with my other, a rare indulgence, and it was $16!!! At Hardee’s. Granted, it wasn’t the economy menu today, but I was still surprised.
Trying to be better is really key. And sometimes the best lesson is that trying to be better in your current arena will not get you anywhere. So you go and find a better arena -- where being better will actually help you.
KFC/Taco Bell is the wrong arena. Smart people get out after awhile.
Now if you can back a good marble rye, or a cinnamon babka, you’re in!
You can be a master baker!
They didn’t immediately quit, but they apparently are finding work elsewhere, now.
“What world do you live in? The US is anything but a free market, and you fool only yourself if you believe otherwise.”
Still, the best free market system in the world ever in the history of mankind. Nothing and no country comes close.
That’s a great story of achievement! Congrats!
“... the best motivation for me to succeed in life was when I was working the night shift at Subway and the hottest girl in school came in and saw me with pitiful eyes.”
Now she’s probably a fat mean ball-breaking b!tch.
Unless you ended up marrying her, in which case I’m sure she’s wonderful.
Socialism does that to a society: race to the bottom.
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