This Should Make You Feel Good About How Much $$$ You Make

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Katie (CBS Nightly News) was talking about Ford's offer to buy out some 75,000 employees. She ended the story by saying that the average Ford employee makes $65.00 per hour...

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Thanks. I feel great now! sheesh.......

Katie (CBS Nightly News) was talking about Ford's offer to buy out some 75,000 employees. She ended the story by saying that the average Ford employee makes $65.00 per hour...

That figure might include fringe benefits. In many career fields the benefits can equal (or occasionally even exceed) the actual hourly wage. News sources don't always point this out. They may not even realize it themselves.

Even if that's not the case, the job security picture is a whole lot better for nurses than it is for autoworkers.

Specializes in OR Internship starting in Jan!!.

Yeah, have to take numbers like that with a grain of salt. They probably factored in benefits. At one place where I worked, they had a section that showed how much we made if we factored in all of our benefits. It added about $20/hr

Specializes in Critical Care.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/business/15ford.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin

"Few workers at the Wayne plant were worried about job security during the 1990’s. Then, their factory, known as the Michigan Truck Plant, operated almost continually on overtime, building big sport utility vehicles and pickups, each of which earned Ford a profit of $10,000 and up. With overtime, workers routinely took home $100,000 a year."

~faith,

Timothy.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

These autoworkers are very fortunate to be paid well. However, being laid off is always a concern for them. When these auto workers are laid off they usually cannot find other jobs that pay them the same wages as the car assembly plant. Nurses, however, can easily find other jobs that meet or exceed our current pay rates. Life is never quite the same after these auto workers receive their layoff notices.

I once had a job that paid a ridiculously high weekly wage (not hourly, salaried) but it was mostly seasonal and frequently subject to revision. I took home a ton of money one year in particular, but never knew if I'd HAVE a job the next. That level of insecurity and stress was nuts.

Not worth it.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

You know,, yeah it may sound like a lot for wages,, but 75,000 of them will be unemployed soon and looking for new jobs. Do you think their skills are marketable beyond an assembly line? Probly some of them,, but i bet the majority wont be.

I have a friend that is waiting to hear if her job at Ford will be gone before long. She has a masters degree, so she isnt even on assembly. I wouldnt want to be in that position for anything. A lot of those employees are coming into middle age when it will be difficult to find a job. Lets face it after a certain age, even though its illegal there is age discrimination and you arent as marketable in your profession. Buyouts sound good but that money goes fast when there isnt a steady paycheck coming in.

I feel bad for them, ive been where they are. I hope for the best for all of them.

If I include my benefits I make about half of that. :( But job security is valuable, of course.

Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
Katie (CBS Nightly News) was talking about Ford's offer to buy out some 75,000 employees. She ended the story by saying that the average Ford employee makes $65.00 per hour...

That is including their benefits. It probably doubles their hourly wage.

I think the larger issue of this story is that these jobs are going away. The era of a man graduating from high school, getting a job at the factory, buying a home and supporting a family nicely, working 20 years, and then retiring with a nice pension, is fading if not gone entirely. These jobs will go to Mexico and India, etc.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I think the larger issue of this story is that these jobs are going away. The era of a man graduating from high school, getting a job at the factory, buying a home and supporting a family nicely, working 20 years, and then retiring with a nice pension, is fading if not gone entirely. These jobs will go to Mexico and India, etc.
Precisely! A high school diploma is not worth much in terms of earning power these days. Entry-level manufacturing jobs are permanently riding away in the sunset, never to be seen again. Even though unionized auto workers earn good money, I would not want to trade places with them because their futures are too uncertain. Today they have a good job, but tomorrow they might be laid off.
Specializes in Med/Surg; Psych; Tele.

This thread makes me think of the other day at my second job....This guy I'd just done a nursing assessment on ends up telling me that he makes $25.00/hr as a person who delivers and installs doors. Even though this is only about $3.00 more/hr than I make (with my still new RN pay), it still just made me kinda mad, especially just thinking about all the crap we nurses have to endure on a daily basis!:madface: :madface: :madface:

Don't get me wrong...I love what I do, but sometimes (well actually kinda often) I find myself wondering...."and I do this again...why?"

I think nurses should get paid double what their current salaries are to really be comminsurate with what we do and the accountability we assume!

OK...I'm done. Thanks for reading.

+ Add a Comment