States that cut $300/week unemployment didn’t get people back to work

@Elessar I agree but most people view workers as dogs that must be starved to work

@Elessar Dude, sandwich ships here can't get enough help paying $18 a damn hour. That's definitely a living wage. Especially for making a sandwich. Grocery stores offering $20

@MethDozer I'd bet there's a catch, or they wouldn't take much to fill that position. Maybe that offer is only temporary (like, $18/h the first month, then $10), or maybe they found some other creative way to try to screw their employees and people aren't that dumb for falling for it.

If I lived closer I would go, out of curiosity, to the interview.

@Elessar Nah, no catch. It's just the nature of conditional money benefits. I honestly don't blame people for doing it, but it can't go on forever. In fact those kinds of catches aren't legal here.

It's that many of these people expected their prior jobs to be waiting for them and their ego won't let them go "work a menial job". Don't get me wrong, a lot of places are trying to screw people and will if they can but that isn't every case either. I'm still hyper critical of the more professional job offeres who are complaining about no one taking the jobs but still expect to not have to train prospects and expect them to go train themselves and tool themselves in hopes the positions are still there in the 3 months thay is going to take.

Yet to say the free extra money in unemployment by choice isn't a huge factor is nonsense and it is nonsense to say there is still a good reason to allow the excuse of covid when the vaccines are fully available if you're really that worried about it. It's a clear example of why conditional benefits are a mistake. If it was just offered as relief to all people would be choosing to go back to work. The minimum part time employment rates in Alaska demonstrates that with their dividends packages which is in essence a UBI.

When you don't work for over a year by choice you put yourself back at the beginning rung of the ladder and that's just how it is and should have been expected.

@MethDozer $18/hour would not go far in this part of NY. I wonder if health insurance is part of the benefits package at Ye Olde sandwich shop... or if there even is a benefits package.

@MethDozer hmm, I don't (completely) disagree with that, you may have a point, I don't honestly know how unemployment works over there and how much you can get. But I wouldn't exclude either hypothesis, employers aren't often bothered by wether something is legal or not if they can circumvent it, and even less whether it's ethical/correct or not to do anything, so I wouldn't be surprised if they found a way around that already. Like a $10/h pay + a bonus (which *can* be temporary), but all marketed as $20/h when they have to whine on TV/newspapers/etc.

Unemployment benefits (and "basic income") have / may have their usefulness but they need to be implemented right. If they can provide for the bare minimum (i.e. you won't be able to buy, I dunno, smartphone and PS5 with unemployment benefits), accounting for at the very least where one lives, it shouldn't come through as an alternative to work, more as a deterrent against ridiculous wages and poor work conditions, which is why at least here employers are particularly salty towards them.

@TrunkZ $18 an hour is definitely a livable wage in Upstate NY. Maybe not in NYC but the rest of the state? Sure is.

@MethDozer Wouldn't know. Net pay, that would probably not pay the rent on a one bedroom apartment in the suburbs outside NYC here.

Factor in health insurance, a car, food, clothing and such basic necessities, entertainment, saving for the future such as a family... 😬😬

Besides lower housing costs upstate are those other expenses less too?

@TrunkZ Everything is less. NYC is a trap.

Also, entertainment is a luxury, not a necessity.

@TrunkZ right now I pay $600 a month for a one bedroom

@MethDozer That rent is amazing. 25 years ago I paid $900 for a 2 bedroom on Long Island

I don't disagree about the entertainment expense but even a movie for 2 with some popcorn is going to put a huge dent in that budget

@TrunkZ My sister and brother in law from the Bronx were dumbstruck. My brother in law more so because he never left NYC.


My only reaction was " I keep telling you to get the fuck out of there." Yet his excuse is " I'll only make 2/3 the money I make there. Dumb ass that's true but your expenses will be at least half! You'll be saving more money than the wage cut. He can't see how that makes sense.

@MethDozer The world is changing and people can work remotely so cost of living may equalize a little. Upstate can be a bit of an acquired taste especially the winters, as can be the NYC area, but if you can get ahead and enjoy a reasonable cost of living then why not?

@TrunkZ Plus up here you have 10 minute drives to work instead 3 hour subway hell rides.

@MethDozer fortunately I have a 20-25 minute drive these days when I'm in the office. You are correct about the commute though. Did that for too many years

@TrunkZ That's incredible down there. You should play the lottery

@MethDozer lol, the payout isn't high enough 🤣🤣🤣