This was an interesting article that talked how wildfires in the province of Alberta and how it seems like they were trying to recruit workers for it and the wage is what really stood out. You would expect these kinds of jobs to pay more due to the conditions one would be placed in. But as you can see the wage is $22 an hour. That really makes me wonder what one is thinking when they came up with that number. For example, is it because it is more labor intensive versus an intellectual field that requires years of schooling to get licensed and certified?
Is it a wonder why more people aren’t applying? For that rate based on safety one would probably opt to work at a fast food restaurant. If they offered it at $50 an hour as an example people would be applying non stop I would imagine. It does show how people tend to only value say an education even if there are jobs that demand extreme physical labor in undesirable situations where there is no question that it requires a different set of skills that can be just as hard to acquire and maintain.
It makes you wonder what the balance is as even in a retail store the guy doing shipping tasks which requires constant heavy lifting versus a customer service agent could start on the same wage. But I would argue like there it’s different skills that are equal to the environment and one’s experience such as how the customer service agent needs to actually deal with people constantly face to face and addressing concerns. There may be people that prefer physical tasks and not that as an example.
But imagine now if these two workers were transfer to a store in an area that has horrible weather conditions or is right next to sites that frequently have explosions around the area. Highly doubt they should just be offered $22 an hour right? I know for some companies that have businesses near oil fields they actually pay way more to attract worker because of the working environment. Imagine like there if someone just viewed it as “entry level work” and based it as if we are talking about an average location in a modern city.