12th March 2008, 09:52 AM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by drpeterwardle
It is bad enough having this unilateral pay bargaining
You should just be glad that its being run by the nice people at BAJR and the IFA and that the unions aren't involved.
You have to remember that your employees costs have also gone up astronomicly in the last few years (Retail price index of 4.8% last year, house prices, petrol anyone?). A average graduate will come out of university today with debts of 12-14K. If that graduate has no experience they will be forced to start on a trainee wage (G1 BAJR minimum of c.13.4K). That means a typical graduate can have more debt than their starting yearly salary and they haven't even got a house yet! While it is true they don't have to pay it back until they start earning 15K, they pay interest from the moment the loan is issued. For 2007/2008 that was 4.8% which equals 576 pounds per year (on a 12k loan) on on top of the loan. A couple of years working as a site assistant getting that all important experience and your debt has gone up by another grand.
Also, compare the wages in archaeology to a predicted median average graduate wage of 24K for 2008. While I understand your worries about employers costs being pushed to far to quickly the current levels of pay are not sustainable in the current climate and will have to go up. It is in the interests of everyone that this happens, and this also includes clients and developers who are going to be left with sites but no-one to clear them if levels of pay do not increase. Last years shortage of staff will become the norm.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4790583.stm - from 2006 I couldn't find anything more recent.
http://www.slc.co.uk/statistics/previous...rates.html
http://www.hecsu.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home...bf5e147144
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7218805.stm
Sorry to go off topic!