Green $

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I have to admit I started out at $8 an hour .I was 19 and thrilled to have some direction in my life. 8 years later i m trying to get a business of my own off the ground.
 
Location, time of year and market.

We were paying 1.50-2.00 above scale to get new helpers in a market that was begging for help. Had to give raises frequently (more than required in 1st, 2nd year) to retain these guys. Permanent borrowing of employees was a common occurrence, with any warm body that had any level of expierence.

There is a fair market price in your area, investing money in a green employee that turns out to be an assent is more than worth but dumping money into a slacker a waste.

Ask others at the supply house. Oh and those electric supply warehouse guys (young right out of school) know their material.
 
Have you talked to a temp agency? If your just starting out this option might be worth a look. A temp to perm opportunity.

Here is another thought. My old company use to travel 4 hours to a school for guys. He hired 17 of them. Most can pass a journeyman exam but lack the field knowledge. Back in 99 he started them out at $11. I would say in 2 years about 2 are left with that company. Supply and demand he need 17 guys he got 17 guys. www.triangle-tech.com This school is in PA.
 
Jerseydaze said:
I have to admit I started out at $8 an hour .I was 19 and thrilled to have some direction in my life. 8 years later i m trying to get a business of my own off the ground.
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I started off at $5.50, but it was 1.00 more than the grocery store I was working at... :grin:
 
You can ask the instructors at the local technical schools what their students are getting for reference. Round here it is 8-12/hr.

Tom
 
my suggestion is pay enough to get the right kind of person, someone that you want to keep for the long haul. no one can tell you what that number is, but you are basically looking for unskilled labor that wants to learn a skill along the way. I think $10 is probably fair to start. maybe a little more in some areas, a little less in others.

keep in mind that a lot of people who would be perfectly happy to work for you for $10 if it was a long term thing, are not real happy with the ups and downs of the construction business. they want something a little more secure.

$10 an hour is a whole lot better if you work 52 weeks of the year (less PTO) then if you work 32 weeks of the year and have to scramble the other 20 weeks.
 
petersonra said:
my suggestion is pay enough to get the right kind of person, someone that you want to keep for the long haul. no one can tell you what that number is, but you are basically looking for unskilled labor that wants to learn a skill along the way. I think $10 is probably fair to start. maybe a little more in some areas, a little less in others.

keep in mind that a lot of people who would be perfectly happy to work for you for $10 if it was a long term thing, are not real happy with the ups and downs of the construction business. they want something a little more secure.

$10 an hour is a whole lot better if you work 52 weeks of the year (less PTO) then if you work 32 weeks of the year and have to scramble the other 20 weeks.
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That's true, but if you made 16.25/hr then it would be even.

Tom
 
I start all helpers at the fed minimum wage,I tell them that is just where they start and not where they will stop ,I have had to many come in and only work a few days and quit at 10.00 hr that way a couple hundred bucks down the tube so I started hiring at min wage,if a helper looks like they might work out I can raise them and if not the don't get to deep in my pocket.
 
I agree that a green helper is not worth much more than the $10-12 hour range.

But, that said, with the cost of everything going up the way it is, it's going to be hard to keeping people employed in the electrical trade if wages don't start to increase to keep up with the cost of living. But that's a much bigger issue and a much bigger problem.
 
growler said:
I wouldn't give to much just starting out. Remember that if the guy shows up and you think that he's going to work out you will need to give a raise within 60 days. Start him cheap and tell him what he can make in the future if he starts to earn it.

People like getting raises, it makes them feel as if they have accomplished something and it's easier to give a raise if you are not paying to much to start with.
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Yes, I agree, start small then raise as justified. I would generally give a better starting salary to someone who is attending trade school, I even pay their tuition, if I feel that they will be staying on. But as someone else already pointed out, starting salaries are highly influenced by regional economics. I would say check with local McDonalds and then rasie it by a buck for a young startup. I never feel right offering such low wages to a grown up, but it is rare to run into a middle aged applicant for helper position in my experience. e/m.
 
I look at it like this I started out at $8 an hour (50cents more then I was making at grand union) and 8 years later im try to start a business .But I advertised on craigslist and basically had a guy call me an A**hole so im second guessing a little.
 
When I started out the starting wage was 1.75, I was lucky as this firm need lots of help quick I was hired at 2.50 an hour. Stayed with them 2.5 years till they went belly up.
 
Jerseydaze said:
But I advertised on craigslist and basically had a guy call me an A**hole so im second guessing a little.
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The "Boss" is always an A**hole for one reason or other so don't let that bother you at all. Buy yourself a copy of the Sunday paper and see how many jobs are advertised for green hepers and see what other companies are offering.

I did a job search here to see what is being offered for green helpers and it is in fact $8.00 pr. hr., that's with a high school diploma or GED and no experience. I'm sure they will go a little higher if the right person shows up.

That $8 an hour here may be equal to $10 or $11 in New Jersey. It's really hard to tell what it will take to hire someone in another area.

Never let names that employees call you influence your decision on what to pay. If calling the boss bad names would get you more money I would have been a rich man a long time ago.:grin:
 
LawnGuyLandSparky said:
- But starting a green helper at a buck over burger flipper rate is is exactly the reason you're getting the kind of people who eventually "just don't work out."
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This implies that hiring a bum at a jman's salary might actually work. Believe me, I have done my share of overpaying greens from the start and lived to regret it. I say start the greens low, but be fair and raise them if they deserve it, fire them if they don't. e/m.
 
mdshunk said:
A mentality of entitlement here perhaps? I'm surprised to hear this sort of talk from you, particularly. I am not a social welfare agency. I am a man who works for everything I've got, and I expect others to do the same. I do not owe anyone a living, but I will put everything in place for them to do that for themself over time.
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Amen Marc, I haven't been in business that long, but have seen my share of the "entitled" (as well as some very decent help). I have utmost respect for the hard working, and contempt for the slacker, plain and simple. e/m.
 
Davis9 said:
You can ask the instructors at the local technical schools what their students are getting for reference. Round here it is 8-12/hr.

Tom
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And they (the instructors) are a good source of referral for potential helper employees. I am a firm believer that the way someone presents himself in the classroom (punctuality, grade, homework completion, keeping your area of work clean, respect for teacher and fellow students, etc.) says a lot about what type of employees they will make. A teacher can tell you a lot about the potential employee. e/m.
 
petersonra said:
I would guess a whole lot of people would still choose the $10/hour job. Not having a job is tough.
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Well, the problem with that is that there is no guarantee that the $10 / hr job will actually last much longer than the $16.25 / hr job. I bet, most people will take the higher wage, because even with the likelihood of layoff, you can do pretty well with unemployment benefits and some side work, while things are slow. e/m.
 
Jerseydaze said:
But I advertised on craigslist and basically had a guy call me an A**hole so im second guessing a little.
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This is an addition to my last post. When some guy calls or e-mails you and gets smart over the amount you are willing to pay don't forget to ask how much he/she is making at the present and what type of work they are doing. A pizza delivery guy can probably make more than you can afford to pay someone but does he really want to deliver pizza for the rest of his life. If he does then wish him well.

One of my younger sisters got a technical degree in computer repair. She could never afford to leave her job as a restaurant manager because no one could get close to the money she was already making. Her training didn't really go to waste because the corporation that she worked for thought highly of any sort of advanced education and she was promoted to regional manager. A person that's willing to work hard will make it somewhere.
 
You are welcome to use this as a guideline. My first electrical job I was paid $3.25 an hour. I had graduated a vocational school program just prior so I was paid probably .25 an hour too much......
 
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