What is a job worth?
We had an interesting little discussion about work and pay in the How's your day? discussion.
I thought I'd pull it out into it's own thing so we didn't take up too much space there!
Essentially, we were discussing about train drivers earning a relatively good wage when comparing it to some other professions like police officers, nurses, doctors, and even airline pilots who have to pay a lot of money for training before earning their money.
Train drivers are paid relatively well because they are heavily unionised. If you think they are paid too much, how much do you think their job is worth? Trains are vital to our economy and to our quality of life in getting around. So their job is indeed vital, but so are many other jobs that get paid far less.
My own personal view is that these other jobs aren't paid enough, not that train drivers are paid too much. But what are your thoughts?
What is the 'value' of a job like doctor, train driver, bin collector? And if one earns more than the others, should they be paid less, or the other jobs be paid more?
Comments
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I think everything needs to be weighed up.some jobs require good pay for the job in hand. Look at MPs and all their expenses for their second homes and other things besides.
Everyone deserves a decent wage but some should get more.
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If everyone was paid a fair wage, would it be terribly inflationary and result in a net pay cut for everyone??
I ask this because I tried to imagine all the people who I think aren't paid enough, and then of the people who I think are paid too much, and the latter are probably outnumbered by the former at a rate of about 100 to one!!
What I'm saying using a real life example is if we paid everyone £100k a year a loaf of bread would be about £15 and a tiny 1 bedroom flat would cost a million quid so the quality of life afforded by the salary wouldn't change
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Well of course, you can't just say "give everyone 100 grand a year!". But I don't think anybody is asking for that. Nor do I think is anyone asking to pay everyone exactly the same!
Just, I've noticed when things like train drivers are brought up. The comment is usually "they're paid too much", not "other's should be paid better".
What is a fair wage? We have a minimum wage that is meant to be the minimum we've decided a job can be "valued" at. Though in many places in the UK it isn't enough to support yourself.
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£100,000 was just an example, numbers and prices are all relative anyway though so it doesn't really matter, I wasn't suggesting anyone asked to pay everyone the same either
What I mean was if you took all the people that it's suggested deserve a massive pay rise, it doesn't actually leave that many people left
Also, when you give millions of people a significant pay rise, I think double-figure percentages are often quoted, you are still cutting the effective pay of the minority that are left behind on their old salary
I hope that makes better sense??
As an aside, the argument about whether we should choose between paying certain people more or cutting pay of those who are paid too much is actually inconsequential if you think about it because both of those things achieve the same result
Because of how economics work, and the fact that money is fundamentally limited (that's what gives it value), means that giving millions of people more purchasing power and leaving out a few people, is the same as reducing the purchasing power of those few who have too much and leaving everyone else the same. I hope that makes sense a little
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No it does make sense. Though I suppose that comes back to my question, are train drivers the group with "too much"? Or is there another group with much, much more.
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That's a good point @Jimm_Scope
I guess the other argument could be that we live in a free market as well so if it was as easy as all the potential bus drivers just training to be train drivers instead, they'd just go and do it! There must be some kind of high entry requirement that train drivers fulfil to justify their salary
I found an interesting thing ages ago where the ideal area you want to be is in the middle but most people's job fulfils 2 or 3 out of the 4 bubbles
Example … my Dad's job - he loves it, it's needed, he's good at it but it's rubbish pay
my brother's job - well paid, good at it, needed, but he hates it
I wonder if anyone fills all 4???
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from when i left school i was a herdsperson low wages and long hours never once moaned about the low pay i looked at it as getting paid for a hobby the trouble is the more you have the more you spend then the more you want to keep that standard of living and as you get more everything goes up in price to cover your rises and so it goes on and on supermarkets and selling off all the utility companies has done this country no favours over the years putting huge profits and paying high dividends to the share holders and where are we now in a boat trying to go upstream with no paddle
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The value of a job like a doctor, train driver, or bin collector is complex and multifaceted. Each of these professions has significant societal, economic, and personal value, and their worth should be recognised and compensated accordingly. Instead of comparing salaries, we should focus on ensuring that each profession is fairly compensated for its unique contributions to society.
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How critical is it? What happens if they go on strike? We all know that people would die if all doctors or ambulance staff stopped work but people would also die if all electricians or gas engineers downed tools.
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These deputies are absolutely useless.
People can write and pass laws together via the Internet. There are already a lot of clowns around.
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