3rd January 2012, 03:59 PM
P Prentice Wrote:looks shit for anyone starting out but might just keep so old lags out the poor house - derisory
There are plenty of people who have to live on the national minimum wage!! My thinking was that at present it is very difficult for entrants into archaeology to get any kind of start at all and therefore a minimum wage entry grade would in effect be an 'apprenticeship' into the industry and at a pay level that couldn't be 'undercut' in terms of competitive practice or 'overlooked' in terms of arguing that it is was too high in achieving its desired result - staff with minimum training, but training that was particularly profession specific.
It did also occur to me that having a starting grade in archaeology equivalent to the NMW would leave no-one in any doubt as to what employment prospects in archaeology were likely to be when they began studying the subject ... I wouldn't care to say at what stage anyone graduated upwards from NMW to higher pay levels, but I assume it has some relation to acquired skills and/or responsibility. So after 5 years experience graduating to ?25,000 pa wouldn't necessarily be based solely on achieving a level of 'management' responsibility, but a factoring of field and management experience suited to both the individual and the organisation in which they worked. And even that is still a long way below the average 'national' income.....
With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind all passion spent...