3rd January 2006, 01:25 PM
It is highly unlikely that an architecture graduate can walk into a 20k job. Firstly, a first degree does not qualify you as an architect, there is a year out to do, then back for another two years full time uni, then you have to do "Part 3" while working, with evening classes, sit an exam and an interview, all taking another year, then you're there. You still may not walk into a 20k job, despite having two years work experience and 5 years full time ed. It will depend on where you are, what field you are in, and most of all market forces at the time.
The point is, it is very difficult to be sure that you are comparing like for like unless you are familiar with the professions and industries concerned. I would also hesitate to base a claim for a cerian wage on the grounds that other occupations are somehow inferior. I would not have a clue how to drive a forklift truck, for example, and would not begrudge a decent wage to either a caretaker or cleaner (completely different things BTW). Toilet cleaning is an occupation that few would care to pursue, I hazard.
I don't really see how any committee or whatever declaring that an occupation "should" command a given salary is going to achieve anything. If you're an employer you're going to pay the rate necessary to secure the staff that you need. If you can get people to work for 200 quid a week, then that is what you'll pay. If you offer 400 quid because you're a nice perosn, you won't win any tenders and no-one will get paid.
Please excuse the absurdly simplistic economic model, but that in a nutshell is what it's all about. Now, what we do about it, and I fully agree that something needs to be done, is the tricky bit and I regret that I have nothing to suggest. Are there any unit managers or senoir manager type bods out there who actually pay the wages and thus in reality set the rates, who could chip in an opinion, one way or another? Best of all, can one or more have a say at the conference? Dialogue is better than monologue! (unless you're a Danish prince).
We owe the dead nothing but the truth.
The point is, it is very difficult to be sure that you are comparing like for like unless you are familiar with the professions and industries concerned. I would also hesitate to base a claim for a cerian wage on the grounds that other occupations are somehow inferior. I would not have a clue how to drive a forklift truck, for example, and would not begrudge a decent wage to either a caretaker or cleaner (completely different things BTW). Toilet cleaning is an occupation that few would care to pursue, I hazard.
I don't really see how any committee or whatever declaring that an occupation "should" command a given salary is going to achieve anything. If you're an employer you're going to pay the rate necessary to secure the staff that you need. If you can get people to work for 200 quid a week, then that is what you'll pay. If you offer 400 quid because you're a nice perosn, you won't win any tenders and no-one will get paid.
Please excuse the absurdly simplistic economic model, but that in a nutshell is what it's all about. Now, what we do about it, and I fully agree that something needs to be done, is the tricky bit and I regret that I have nothing to suggest. Are there any unit managers or senoir manager type bods out there who actually pay the wages and thus in reality set the rates, who could chip in an opinion, one way or another? Best of all, can one or more have a say at the conference? Dialogue is better than monologue! (unless you're a Danish prince).
We owe the dead nothing but the truth.