Entry-level pay down 8% from a decade ago: report
It’s a bit unfortunate that anytime new data emerges on worker compensation, we feel the need to compare it to what top CEOs earn.
What we know, though, is that executive pay is among the only data set we can track over a period of time.
For instance, the total compensation paid the highest-ranking five executives of a public firm between 1993-1995, according to the Oxford Review of Economic Policy, amounted to five per cent of that company’s earnings. By 2001-2003, that total had nearly doubled, to 9.8 per cent of a firm’s company earnings.
Add that to what we know CEOs earn now, and what we have is a complicated way of saying the earnings of top executives have risen and risen, with few interruptions.
We cannot say that, however, about the rest of the workforce.
In what’s surely some of the most troubling data for young people, a new study shows that entry-level pay has not only failed to increase since the recession, but has reverted back to levels seen some 15 years earlier.
*Bing: What are the highest-paying jobs for young people?
According to the Economic Policy Institute, inflation-adjusted pay for university/college graduates has slumped by nearly eight per cent since 2000, and is almost as low as it was at its dearth over a 40-year period, in 1995.
In 2011, entry-level pay for a post-secondary graduate* scored in at $21.68 in the U.S., down from $23.47 in 2000. In 1995, when wages for fresh graduates were lower than they were even as far back as 1973, hourly pay was $19.51.
What entry-level workers earned last year was about the same, on an inflation-adjusted hourly basis, as they made in 1973.
So what we’ve got here, then, isn’t just a story of how the recession has slammed graduate earnings. The trend, regrettably, has been heading downward for more than a decade.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
*Figures above represent male pay. Female pay is slightly lower, but reflects the same negative pattern as seen in male compensation.
Posted by: Dave | Mar 9, 2022 6:23:24 PM
This is what happens when we allow rigged systems to develop and remain. Europeans didn't flee Europe because the weather is horrible and they wanted to leave their families behind. They left for the land of opportunity which had thrown off the shackles of a corrupt unelected leadership which has now expanded to North America.
If in doubt about the leadership issue one only needs to look at what we spent on the Iraq & Afghanistan war and what we'll spend on the war in Iran that is being planned.
Yes.... it's all about fuel because there was Noooo way we could have converted the North American fleet to Natural Gas (which we have a glut of) for that amount of money.
Was it about the people in the middle east? Hmm Ask those people now dying in Syria or with Joseph Kony in Uganda.
It is all a distraction to keep the 'little people' from changing the corrupt system.
Who care's about the entry level income, it's not like it will ever hit the middle classes....
Posted by: We Are Screwed | Mar 10, 2022 9:13:47 AM
In Canada it is more of a priority to have Air Canada flying than it is to have a federal goverment.Our labour minister should change her title to CORPORATE MINISTER.Canada post locks out the workers and the goverment forces them back to accept a so called collective agreement for less than was offered before the lockout.The auto industry gets a baleout,the workers get less money and a cut in benefits,CEO'S get bonuses.You can post how to get rid of a union in a factory but you can't post how to get a union.Our elections are just as corrupt as the third wold country elections are,this is what happens when there is no accountability in business or goverment and it is only going to get worse.
Posted by: KARL V | Mar 10, 2022 12:58:25 PM
I AGREE WHWN A COMPANY DOES BETTER ALLTHE WORKER SHOULD DO BETTER EQUALLY ..... OH NO CEOS WOULD ACTAULLY HAVE TO BE GIVENS RAISES NOT ON THE STOLEN WAGES OF THE EMPLOYEES BUT ON TOTALL OVERALL PERFORMANCE ...... IF WAGES ARE REDUCED DUE TO TIGHTER TIMES NO BONUS TO CEOS SHOULS BE PAID AND THERE WAGE REDUCED ...... OH NO MAKE CEOS ACCOUNTABLE IS THIS TOO FAR OUT A IDEA ......AGAIN GREED IS POWER WE CANT SEEM TO STOP OH... THEY CALL IT CAPITALISIT....IF U CAN TAKE IT AND GET AWAY WITH IT YOUR IDEALIZE AS A HERO IT SEEMS EVEN IF YOUR A GOUGHING THIEF .....CEOS ARE JUST A EMPLOYEE TOO .. STOP THERE CLOSE DOOR CONTRACTS NOW
Posted by: KARL V | Mar 10, 2022 1:02:35 PM
ENTERY PAY IS DOWN AND OUR KID ARE IN DEBT 4 AN EDUCATION THER CAARRIER STARTS LATER AS MUCH AS 10 -15 YEARS AND HOUSEARE BECOMING OUT OF REACH THERE ARE NO 30 YEAR AND RETIRE JOBS NO SECURITY OH ,,,,,BUT WE ARE TO BE CHIN UP AND HAPPY WITH THE CEOS THAT CREATED THIS MESS.....
Posted by: Does anyone else see the end in sight? | Mar 10, 2022 3:50:50 PM
Kind of makes you wonder how long it's going to be before the general populace rises up and says enough is enough. It has happened over and over again throughout history. This time people will realize they are being oppressed by corporations instead of government dictators or invading armies. Our governments are so aligned with the corporations as it means tax revenues and the politics of employment numbers for them, no matter how poor the quality or the pay of the employment is in reality.
Have to agree with Dave on this one, people came to North America to flee this type of system in the old world. Now there is no difference between the two anymore.
Posted by: John Gaul | Mar 10, 2022 4:44:07 PM
Everywhere that is not third world is becoming third world. The rich do not fear their country reaching third world status. They do as well in third world countries as they do in first world - better in fact.
So we in the middle and lower classes - the vast majority have a choice. We passively except this ongoing process of wage and benefit cuts and ultimately become peasants in a new global feudalism or we energetically resist. One thing we can stop doing is stupidly applauding every time some group loses benefits or income. It is time for the workers of the world to unite and demand a better deal from the so called global economy. International Greed System would be a better term.
Posted by: colin | Mar 10, 2022 7:36:31 PM
I feel that in these trying times that to even get employment is a bonus despite what CEO's get payed , people sdhould be gratefull there are still buisinesses operating that can give them some oportunity to earn even a small stipend . You have to learn how to live within the means at your disposal and forget about anything that youn do nor actualy NEED , that is what helped put America in the position it finds itself these days .
Posted by: phil | Mar 10, 2022 8:05:37 PM
Just can't agree with your, 'We should be happy with the scraps attitude' Colin. Canada and the USA belong to their citicens, not to corporations. This new world order is set up to benefit a select few and all it takes is complacency by the people in order for it to be pulled off.
In my opinion the fat cats are in for a massive reality check at some point in the future, the only question is when will the rest of us have had enough?
Posted by: colin | Mar 10, 2022 9:32:52 PM
I agree to a point with what you say Phil , but in the meantime complainig is just words that frustrate and cause deppressive attitudes that only makes life more unbearable , better to behave in a more possitive attude , get together and share ideas of how to cope with what you have , we used to put clothes too small for the family in a large garbage bag which was passed around the neighbourhood , it always came around with different clothes to browse through , we shared trips into town to go shopping , baby sat each others chidren and other things of that ilk , you would be surprised how much further the money stretches when you work together instead of pissing into the wind and pointing fingers .
Posted by: Wester guy | Mar 11, 2022 3:41:58 AM
I am happy with what I have. Modern life provides every imaginable luxury for little work. It is obvious that if you choose wisely you can easily have a good life for a reasonable amount of work.
Some have more, I congratulate them. Many in this category work very hard. I have personally seen this numerous times.
Some have less. I wish them the best. Many I know in this category either don't work hard or made many bad decisions. Most of these people unfortunately don't even realize they are making a decision and so they inevitably blame society when they finally see the result of a bad decision.
Lastly many of the poor decision makers seem to hate corporations. Most public corporations are 80%+ widely held. This means the evil "fat cat" corporation you refer to is actually 80% owned by middle class people planning to retire in the next couple of years. You know, that nice older couple down the street. In Canada the middle class controls the bulk of assets.
Lastly the funniest thing is how people think modern workers have it rough. We have universal luxuries unimaginable even 30 years ago, a stable safe environment, and the best medical ever. For the vast majority basic necessities are easily covered with the only struggle being in the luxury versus work/life balance. Anybody in history would gladly trade their lives for yours as world 80% of the world's current population that doesn't live in a first world country. Can you never be happy?
Pop quiz. Do any of you corporate haters know what the public corporation tax rate is in your province? Let's see if any of you don't think those are punative already.
Posted by: JC | Mar 12, 2022 12:34:05 PM
When entry level positions/ pay are this off the mark, therefore people suffer and no longer have the option to have 1 working person supporting a family, unless that person is a CEO.
I grew up in a family with a Dad who made half decent pay - nothing extravagant - which is all I would expect however living off what the typical wage is wouldn't even get close to cutting it. Housing pricing is higher than it's ever been yet again and since the recession pay raises have nearly completely stopped - or they're minimal. I've worked in an order entry position with technical/ electrical knowledge for 5 years and have only added a couple thousand to my salary, however bonuses have gone down dramatically which means overall I'm making less.
The company values Salesmen and CEO's more than anyone else, they keep getting more and more money when we're struggling to pay month to month bills. I don't have the option of wasting my money on frivilous things each month.....
Posted by: New Grad | Mar 13, 2022 10:57:49 AM
I expect a similar growth rate in pay to a CEO's growth rate. The CEO's are not any more valuable today compared to 10 years ago; therefore, there is no explanation for this drastic difference. To Western Guy: This is not about the lazy begging for handouts. It's hard workers requesting the same rewards as the CEO's. Two very different things. If you can't look at those growth rates and see that something is wrong than you should give your head a shake.