Middle Class - The Employees & The American Dream

In the previous generation, the norm was the husband had one job and was able to support his family with the income of that job. He has a secure job with a secure retirement and pension. Your job was part of your family and everyone in the company seemed to care.

Nowadays it seems as everywhere I go and everyone I talk to, people are complaining about not being able to make ends meet financially. They are talking about having two or more jobs and having no time for themselves or their families. The CEOs are making more money than ever and the employees can not afford to live. No wonder why morale in the workplace is low and to add insult, companies spend money to hire “think tanks” to figure out why morale is low and eventually blame it on middle or entry management.

I have spent more that ten years in the telecommunications and computer field as an employee. The small annual raises these companies offered me, even though they were the maximum, did not keep up with inflation and the cost of living so I really made more money my first year than my tenth year with seniority. My moral finally began to erode, and it was not because of management or the companies. It was because I wanted to earn enough money to care for my family, have a place to live and food to eat.

I first heard about this in the automotive industry where automotive assemblers made nearly six figure incomes, then replaced with workers earning twelve dollars an hour. It is now appearing to spread across other industries. With one job I had in the computer field, I was enjoying almost thirty dollars an hour. My department was eventually confronted with an option to stay at fourteen dollars an hour or leave because the company decided to subcontract workers from a temp agency.

This has forced me to make a decision. I realized that being an employee started to carry significant financial risks without the opportunity of making a good income, ever. I had no option but to start working for myself.

How far is this going to go? Will it become like some other countries where doctors make four hundred dollars a month and taxi drivers who own their own taxi cab make eight hundred dollars a month? I hope not, because without a middle class the American dream will only be for a select few.

A freelance writer that uses his experience to hopefully help others.
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