Wage collusion has been going on in Sioux Falls and the State for quite awhile. Would a change in State Law or even city ordinance that requires all employers (big and small) to show either the hourly wage or salary in an employment ad that is posted within the state or city help matters? Would it hurt?
Neel spoke today at Rotary Club of Sioux Falls Downtown. He asked the audience to challenge him with tough questions.
He felt that if you are struggling finding workers or complaining about it, it is NOT that the workers don’t exist, but the wages are not high enough to attract them.
“If you’re not raising wages, you’re just whining.” (about finding enough workers)
I have consistently stood by the argument that when you pay your workers more, they spend more, which boosts the local economy, which in turn boosts the bottom line of your company. The middle class is more likely to spend more than they will invest or save if they make more, while the rich tend to put that money away where it doesn’t circulate as much.
You can give away all the free tickets to a free outdoor concert or unlimited mimosas on center court of the EC, doesn’t matter, if young people want to move back to Sioux Falls to continue their career that decision depends on something else very important;
“There’s other things that hold people back from moving back. Like pay and benefits,†she said.
She expects her husband will take a pay cut when they return.
“He’ll most likely get paid less than in Alaska,†she said.
We can talk all we want about the cost-of-living differential, but it’s still important to note the perception here is that financially they feel they will be less-well-off.
WAGES! WAGES! WAGES! So often we like to talk about low unemployment or affordable housing, but let’s face it, over 40% of the full-time jobs in Sioux Falls don’t pay a living wage. Though we have two of the largest industrial hospital complexes in the region, our pay for healthcare workers is still some of the lowest in the nation, so yes, her husband would have to take a pay cut, a big one.
While there is lots of things to do in SF, some of them free, like recreation in our parks, it still costs money for entertainment. I’m sorry, but the 700 lb. gorilla in the room is still the lack of good living wage jobs in Sioux Falls, not entertainment and recreation.
The best way to describe the city of Sioux Falls Human Resources Department would be ‘Management Heavy’ of the 15 employees there is 7 managers, over 50%. There is even duplicity in some of the managers. For instance there is two Human Resource Managers who both make $97,073.60 a year, their boss, the Director of Human Resources makes $145,392.
Management salaries equal $662,207 with hourly employees equaling $404,183.
Salaries for the entire department is $1,066,390 with an average salary of $71,092.66 a year.
If I had any advice for the next mayor, I would take a cutting knife to the HR department, and I would start at the top down.
Here is the full doc: 2017-Wages
When you start looking at the salaries in this department, you would think they haven’t been adjusted for inflation since 1988. While the city spends millions each year (of our money) on economic development, job growth and affordable housing projects, for some reason they don’t even notice the wage disparity issue in this department.
Out of the 24 custodians that work for the city, 14 of them don’t even make a living wage. The recent Thrive report estimated that a living wage is around $17-20 per hour in Sioux Falls.
The department also has two managers, they make $59,966 & $68,577 per year.
The total salary expenditure for the department (26 employees) is $949,910
If you just count the 24 custodian’s wages it is $821,367 which comes to an average of $16.45 per hour, under a living wage in Sioux Falls.
Should any of this surprise us? I guess people who clean toilets or mop floors are always looked down on as low skill jobs, but over half of these people are actually maintenance employees that require mechanical skills also. Doesn’t someone who works hard 40 hours a week deserve at least a living wage?
I know that the mayor has bragged in the past that they have saved the city even more money in custodial services by contracting a lot of it out. I can tell you that independent cleaning contractors probably pay even less at around $10-12 an hour.
This is where Huether’s corporate culture kicks in. He pays most of his directors well over 6 figures a year, and while their jobs may be more important than cleaning toilets, they still seem to find time to leave before 5 PM to drink beers, or patrol neighborhoods for unsecured wireless so they can download kiddie porn.
Would it really break us if we paid every full-time custodian/maintenance worker with the city AT LEAST $17 an hour? I don’t think so. It seems kind of hypocritical of the current city administration to be throwing millions at local foundations for job growth when we can’t even pay someone a living wage to scrub a toilet.
These are the kind of things that happen when you run a city with a ‘business acumen’. Management lives high on the hog while the minions starve.
Here is the full doc: 2017-Wages
l3wis