When Enough Isn’t Enough

I saw this ad on Craigslist this morning and couldn’t help but wonder about the state of the professional class here in New Orleans. The “yuppies” if you will.

PHP Web Developer Position

Now, PHP is not a highly advanced language of Web programming but, it’s not something one can fake by tinkering around with Dreamweaver either. It takes at least a fundamental understanding of programming and some application of it to be able to state you can do it in a professional setting. It takes at the very least a grasp of code and its use in making the Web go.

The ad also asks for knowledge of CSS and MYSQL, so that’s two more programming languages the applicant needs to have mastered. These are also not overly complex, but they aren’t exactly something your average geek on the street can pick up all by their lonesome either. To have mastered all three of these would put someone in a pretty slim percentile of the workforce. It’s not quantum physics but, I could probably walk out my door right now and talk to the first 500 people I saw and I wouldn’t find a single one who knows all three.

That said, the employer is also asking that an “extensive” look into the applicant’s previous work will be required before anyone is hired (even though it also states previous experience isn’t required).

Then it states that a “non compete” will be required along with a Non-disclosure agreement that will need to be completed.

Now, all this is perfectly reasonable for an employer to request in order to protect their business and ensure they hire the right candidate for the job. They need to ensure that they don’t waste their time on an applicant who isn’t fully on board. I respect that.

But the pay rate for the job?

$8 – $12 an hour. Depending on experience.

It also states that the position is full or part-time but it is listed at Craigslist as a part-time position.

Let’s say for the sake of argument that the most ideal candidate applies for and is accepted into the position at the top rate of $12. They also relent and give him or her a full 40 hours a week. We won’t even discuss the part time / $10 an hour applicants because, as we will see at the end of this commentary, they are sunk.

So $12 an hour at 40 hours a week. That’s $1920 a month.

$1920
– $345 for taxes
——————–
$1575

– $800 for an 1 bedroom apartment in Riverbend (right down the street from the employer). You could also say $800 for a mortgage if this enterprising professional wanted to buy a home in the 100K – 125K range. (Mine is $1150)
——————–
$775

– $400 for a car payment and the insane insurance rates we are forced to pay in Orleans Parish.
——————–
$375

– $150 for heating and cooling give or take a hundred dollars in the fall and spring but putting it back in the summer and winter. I am low-balling here I know.
——————–
$225

– $60 for gas
——————–
$165

– $40 for Sewage and Water Board
——————–
$125

– $225 for food (Mine is $350)
——————–
– $100

Let’s say for the sake of argument that this young professional agrees to live in a flophouse for $500. That would give him or her an extra $300 to spend a month. We take away the $100 he or she is already down for food and that leaves us with $200 for everything else.

Now, being a Web programmer, for his job he or she MUST have an internet connection right? So let’s take off $30 a month (mine is $40) for that. Leaving $170.

$170 spare change a month. That’s without cable. Without a cell phone. Without eating in a restaurant or seeing Rebirth at the Maple Leaf or paying for parking in the Quarter or having a drink at The Spotted Cat.

And kids? Forget it. If the applicant is a single parent with this job, they are buried. They will never see the light of day.

And this is the BEST CASE SCENARIO this employer has to offer. What if the person is accepted at a lower rate of pay? What if they don’t receive 40 hours a week? How much is the insurance they will receive after 6 months?

And don’t forget the no compete clause. Even if another employer recognizes their skill and offers them a job with better pay, they will be legally bound to decline it. By accepting this job they are forced into a rate of pay that is unbalanced with what the cost of living is in the area.

It’s enough to drive someone into the projects isn’t it?