I’m a retired machinist. I’ve seen some of these adds They are looking for “Purple Squirrels”.
They want you to be a machinist (manual and CNC), electrician,(including PLC’s diagnostics), fitter, welder, and be available for all three shifts. Then they offer $18.00 an hour.
And if they cannot find what they want, they will pay more. If they are satisfied and the employee is satisfied (or they would leave) then $18 is the right amount. If they are quality and they do not want to lose them, they will pay more
We have recently raised our entry level warehouse workers to $15/hour, in an attempt to get higher quality people. The $11/hour workers weren’t “cutting it” (slow, not smart, lazy, often late)
“They want you to be a machinist (manual and CNC), electrician,(including PLC’s diagnostics), fitter, welder, and be available for all three shifts. Then they offer $18.00 an hour.”
You beat me to it... Skilled manual labor pay rates, requiring many many years to hone those skills, have been dropping. It is not a lack of qualified individuals, but rather an abundance of illegal foreign nationals willing to work for so much less pay. IMHO