American workers are demanding almost $80,000 a year to take a new job
American workers are demanding almost $80,000 a year to take a new job
The amount of money most workers want now to accept a job reached a record high this year, a sign that inflation is alive and well at least in the labor market.
According to the latest New York Federal Reserve employment survey released Monday, the average “reservation wage,” or the minimum acceptable salary offer to switch jobs, rose to $78,645 during the second quarter of 2023.
That’s an increase of about 8% from just a year ago and is the highest level ever in a data series that goes back to the beginning of 2014. Over the past three years, which entails the Covid era, the level has risen more than 22%. The number is significant in that wages increasingly have been recognized as a driving force in inflation. While goods prices have abated since pushing overall inflation to its highest level in more than 40 years in mid-2022, other factors continue to keep it well above the Fed’s targeted rate of 2%.
The New York Fed data is consistent with an Atlanta Fed tracker, which shows wages overall rising at a 6% annual rate but job switchers seeing 7% gains.
Employers have been trying to keep pace with the wage demands, pushing the average full-time offer up to $69,475, a 14% surge in the past year. The actual expected annual salary rose to $67,416, a gain of more than $7,000 from a year ago and also a new high.
Though there was a gap between the wage workers wanted and what was offered, satisfaction with compensation and upward mobility increased across the board.
With markets on edge over what the Fed’s next policy step will be, more signs of a tight labor market raise the likelihood that policymakers will keep interest rates higher for longer. At their July meeting, officials noted that wages “were still rising at rates above levels assessed to be consistent with the sustained achievement” of the 2% inflation goal, minutes from the meeting said.
Monday’s survey results also showed some other mixed patterns in the labor market.
Job seekers, or those who have looked for work in the previous four weeks, declined to 19.4% from 24.7% a year ago. That came as job openings fell by 738,000 to 9.58 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The likelihood of switching jobs fell, dropping to 10.6% from 11% a year ago, while expectations of being offered a new job also declined, to 18.7% from 21.1%.
"Goods prices have abated..." The fuck they have. Also stop blaming inflation on wage increase. Most of it was caused by opportunistic greed of those aforementioned 'goods prices'.
My groceries for 3 people for one week was 250. That would have been 89 bucks before Covid.
Yup, and my friend working at Kroger sure as shit didn't get a raise
‘Goods’ as in ‘not food or rent’.
Median rent right now is $2k. Rule of thumb is 1/3 or less of income spent on housing. So that's $6k a month. With comes out to 72k a year, pretty close.
All these articles act like workers have become so uppity and demanding but all they want is to live reasonably.
72k per year... before tax. I make $85k per year in Colorado, but only take home ~61k (~$2550 per pay check, 24 paychecks per year)
All of our issues right now circle back to housing prices.
Not really, groceries are expensive af too
Every industry is causing inflation via greed rn
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Considering that Elon musk has made $208 billion dollars in the last 7 years that might have something to do with it.
That's enough money to give every single adult 18 years of age or older in America $1,000 and he would still have at least $40 billion left over, not to mention the 11 billion dollars he started with.
Haven't read the article but the snippet says it's the "amount to get someone to switch jobs." I'm assuming this only applies to a small segment of the population but this news outlet is writing it as if McDonalds employees are demanding $80k salaries.
Yes, or say if workers keep demanding, inflation will rise as if we're not asking for more literally just trying to keep up. Between rent, insurance, transportation, and groceries, we went from saving a ton every month and are now paycheck to paycheck.
My husband asked for 75 recently at an interview and was scoffed at and offered 60. We can't budget enough to survive on that in our area. We want to be able to go to the doctor once in a while.
Meanwhile corporate profits are at record highs in a number of industries.
Nice and plump, they should be taxed at a higher rate. Make Exxon repave the broken streets.
We should punitively fine big oil out of existence. The industry needs to be put into managed decline anyways, may as well do it at bankruptcy court
Stop saying this. That means jack shit since that will clearly go up with inflation.
Corporate profit margins are at record highs. This shows greed. They knew there was an expectation of higher inflation so took advantage of it by increasing prices even when their costs did not increase.
"That's an increase of about 8% from last year."
Or as I like to say 1% less than yearly inflation.
I'm in my thirties begging for more than 28,000/y
Seriously I should probably kill myself or become a martyr.
If you're poor living paycheck to paycheck you essentially just exist to pay tax for war and death. ...maybe a few roads if you're in a predominantly wealthy area.
So for real... It's more humble and respectable to kill myself then work to pay others to kill other people for me so I can have the "freedom" to be a slave for the war machine. The other choice is claw at and rape other people's lives working the American game to get rich until I am able to ignore that the modern worlds still run on slavery and manipulation. no good options.
That's why the youth are hungry to get at all the crooks. Politicians, mob criminals, CEO etc... They all represent the same evil and same tactics.
No one cares if you're a street kinping or Jeff bezos. You are the enemy Of humanity full stop.
I just want to say, you’re not alone. Inflation is still charging ahead, groceries are expensive, daycare is expensive, and the news keeps saying it’s our fault. It’s not. You should get more than 28k. I don’t think anyone working full time should be below 50k plus benefits. If you are having a hard time making ends meet and feeling that pressure it changes how you see the world and how you see other people. It almost drove me mad.
I hope you find some support to get through the rough patch. Hang in there bro, we’re rooting for you too.
Please do not become a martyr, there are tons of people that do this every day and unfortunately due to our shitty planet, their cries for help are dampened even after their passing.
I know life seems like it may suck really bad, believe me, I've been there, several times. Just hang in there, there is always an opportunity out of this shithole.
Life isn't about money either, I myself have spent most of my life in poverty having to fight for what I've had. Think about the possessions you'd leave behind that money cannot buy. Friends, family, pets, memories. You can't take what you physically own with you, but you can't take those things either.
If you need someone to talk to, I am here for you. If you are in distress, please PLEASE seek professional help. I and many others love you and are very proud of you, and even if we do not know you and have never met, we would feel deep regret and sorrow for your loss.
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My wife and I average $69k/year each and we're doing...just okay-ish. We can pay our mortgage (bought 12 years ago, couldn't afford our house if we bought it today), one nice 5 year-old car, some student loan debt, bills, some entertainment and eating out occasionally, some tech like tablets and phones so they aren't over five years old. But we can't pay for house repairs, a major card breakdown/repair, or any vacation that is more than a day's drive away. We can probably restructure our finances to do be a little better off, but for the life of me, I don't know how family that is making less than $80k gets by, let alone $30k, or even less.
There are a lot of optimizations you can do. For example, when I didn't make a lot of money, all of my entertainment was free. My credit card points would fly me to a cheap location like South East Asia where the prices are actually lower.
I also got bank bonuses although that was more relevant when my bank wasn't paying me 5% for just keeping the money there.
My stocks also pay me dividends, and I saved enough for the majority of them to be in a taxable account.
What's adding to the problem is that more and more companies are outsourcing even basic internal functions to contractors so they don't have to pay for 401ks and benefits.
It's getting harder and harder to find full time employment and companies simply will not hire or pretend they are hiring by offering shit jobs with shitty pay and pretending they hired someone followed by listing the same job 3 weeks later.
Eat the rich.
No mention of corporate greed, I note. Most people aren't looking to get wealthy, they just want someplace to live not horribly far from work, a reliable way to get to work, to eat moderately decent food, pay our bills, and have a little fun. Corporations are raising prices on all of those, then they complain when we just want to stop treading water.
You nailed it. Most folks just wanna get by without worrying about if they’ll still have a roof over their head in a month. Little things to make life just a bit easier. A shorter commute. A car that doesn’t guzzle gas getting to work. Some time off to rest and relax so they can come back stronger.
But no. We’re worked ‘til we die.
“The number is significant in that
wageshousing prices increasingly have been recognized as a driving force in inflation.”FTFY
My wife and I together make about $85k a year. We struggle, no doubt. Not as much as we could, but to say we’ll be able to retire in 35 years is a joke. We’ve never been able to save. Not because we don’t want to or haven’t tried, but shit is just so god damned expensive.
Must be all that avocado toast
"I don't work for free I am barely giving a fuck away"
- RTJ
Not just pretty words.
And 80k is basically your subsistence salary now. It's your salary you need to enjoy a very basic life without luxury.
60k is the new poverty line.
i bet no matter how high the minimum wage is, unless government make a law to ilegalize price gauging , we can have 1 trillion / year and landlord will increase the price accordingly, you need a law to punish such illegal price manipulation at first place before raising national min wage
I feel that working 50+ hours weeks just to hit 50k with the overtime. Still have to budget fairly well to save anything.
Companies should be grateful it's only $80k
There's no way I'd change jobs for less than 6 figures.
I'm currently sitting on a soft offer to take on a manager role at my old job. The offer was $92k, I'm pushing for 100k. If not, I'll keep my happy ass as an independent contractor. The only reason I'm willing to take the pay cut is for a work-life balance, and benefits.
Hopefully workers can get it.
It’s so great to see workers able to demand their worth. This has arguably been the strongest job market in 40 years. Given the population pyramid in most countries, I don’t see this resolving without a concerted effort to drive even higher immigration. Or a recession.
So $80K is the minimum American workers will accept to switch jobs. This is not talking about non-college or recently graduated students are accepting.
They fucking should!
Shit I wouldn’t take a new job for less than 200