Careers where people are worth more than they are paid

Uber drivers though I guess that's not a "career." Some of them are just real estate salespeople using it for networking so they don't care about the money. I don't feel as sorry for licensed taxi drivers since they drive like maniacs in the city though.

zephito wrote:

Congressional staffers maybe? I've read low level staffers make about $30 or $35K (in the DC Metro area to boot), working awful hours for generally terrible people (my guess is only those with monstrous egos become congresspeople). I imagine many are sharp, hard-working, ambitious people. I guess they do it to be "near the action" or something.

Serious logical failing here.

The congressmen and congresswomen are "terrible people" with "monstrous egos", but those who choose to hang around them are "sharp", "hard-working", and "ambitious"?

Why do you think one becomes a congressional aide?

I'll give you a hint: it's often because one wants to someday become a member of congress.

zephito wrote:

Telemarketing

I worked I a couple call centers right after highschool. The people who work those jobs are either young people who haven't started down their career path yet or everyone else who works at a call center because they are too lazy and useless to do anything else. Not to mention they provide a completely annoying service to society. There's no way they should be paid more.

fasdfadsf wrote:

zephito wrote:

Telemarketing

I worked I a couple call centers right after highschool. The people who work those jobs are either young people who haven't started down their career path yet or everyone else who works at a call center because they are too lazy and useless to do anything else. Not to mention they provide a completely annoying service to society. There's no way they should be paid more.

Telemarketers are worthless scum, so they could not possibly be worth more than they are paid (unless they were somehow paid negative).

Definitely most entry level workers (excluding union jobs) are extremely underpaid.

Trump Haters

DietBacon wrote:

I'd hope people in every career are worth more than they are paid on average.

Why would company pay someone X if they're not worth at least X+1?

Because company could pay someone X+1 and have a happy employee and still make fabulous profits.

Companies are more than the sum of the value of employees.

webby wrote:

DietBacon wrote:

I'd hope people in every career are worth more than they are paid on average.

Why would company pay someone X if they're not worth at least X+1?

Because company could pay someone X+1 and have a happy employee and still make fabulous profits.

Companies are more than the sum of the value of employees.

If the company pays each employee as much money as they directly and indirectly generate (how else would we measure value?) then there's no point in hiring that employee, as you're breaking even.

Conundrum wrote:

(1) Tech sales guys working retail in stores like Target or Best Buy

(2) College athletes in big time sports in big schools. (They bring in a ton of money to the school and get an inferior education with no health benefits.)

That's a start.

(A bit different that the ..........is over paid thread)

Porn Stars

17 minute guy wrote:

17 minute 5k guys

Hookers

Hedge fund managers

DietBacon wrote:

I'd hope people in every career are worth more than they are paid on average.

Why would company pay someone X if they're not worth at least X+1?

If the "company" is the government, then they will pay public sector union members more than they are worth in the free market.

These public sector unions convince people that their members are underpaid and make sizable political contributions to make sure they get their way in contract negotiations.

glorified babysitters wrote:

teecher noo wrote:

teachers (especially HS or preschool

Hahahaha! That didn't take long.

Blehahahaha - teachers are beyond overpaid given they only work 6-7 months out of the year. Are there any other regular/ non-seasonal jobs where people get weeks off for Xmas and another week off for Spring break and multiple days off during the year that aren't holidays plus 3 entire months in the summer. Add to that an inability to get fired no matter how lousy you are, no real accountability and pensions it's not a surprise why public schools are always broke.

In a price driven economy, free from regulatory coercion, everyone is worth exactly what they are paid. If they produced significant profits for the company, well above what they are paid, then the company employing them could make more money by hiring more people in that position. This would drive up demand for that position, and consequently the business would have to make higher wage bids to attract people to that position.

But I will grant you that college athletes might be producing much more value for their school than they receive back with a free education, especially if they get a worthless degree. The situation in college is not a price driven economy.

celery wrote:

But I will grant you that college athletes might be producing much more value for their school than they receive back with a free education, especially if they get a worthless degree. The situation in college is not a price driven economy.

The vast majority of scholarship athletes produce no value for their universities. A few produce some value and a very small number produce large value.

If they're so overpaid, why aren't people lining up to be teachers? There's such a teacher shortage that some states are recruiting from the Philippines. Teaching is a thankless, $hit job, that everyone seems to think they could do. No one who says $hit like that has any idea what it's like to be a classroom teacher surrounded by spoiled brats raised by people whose total parenting skills consist of never saying "no" to their snowflakes and handing them a cell phone when they get whiny.

Nooooooooooooooooo wrote:

glorified babysitters wrote:

Hahahaha! That didn't take long.

Blehahahaha - teachers are beyond overpaid given they only work 6-7 months out of the year. Are there any other regular/ non-seasonal jobs where people get weeks off for Xmas and another week off for Spring break and multiple days off during the year that aren't holidays plus 3 entire months in the summer. Add to that an inability to get fired no matter how lousy you are, no real accountability and pensions it's not a surprise why public schools are always broke.

People are generally paid exactly what they are worth from an economics perspective. That’s where supply meets demand.

There are a lot of people here that might benefit from taking a fundamentals of economics class or two.

C'mon guy wrote:

zephito wrote:

Congressional staffers maybe? I've read low level staffers make about $30 or $35K (in the DC Metro area to boot), working awful hours for generally terrible people (my guess is only those with monstrous egos become congresspeople). I imagine many are sharp, hard-working, ambitious people. I guess they do it to be "near the action" or something.

Serious logical failing here.

The congressmen and congresswomen are "terrible people" with "monstrous egos", but those who choose to hang around them are "sharp", "hard-working", and "ambitious"?

Why do you think one becomes a congressional aide?

I'll give you a hint: it's often because one wants to someday become a member of congress.

How is this "logical failing"? None of the adjectives I used are mutually exclusive of each other. Sharp, hard working and ambitions people are often terrible individuals and have big egos (and vice versa). Staffers may have similar personalities to their bosses and, as you say, want to become members of congress themselves. It doesn't change the fact that they work long, tough hours and could probably make more money elsewhere.

CEO's.......