I've been going back to school since leaving my first job in 2018, and I'm returning to a paycheck of $18.50. For a job that doesn't require secondary education (don't ask) it sounds great, until you realize that in 2018 dollars this is $16.07. Less than I made at my first job. I got offers from a few places and tried playing them against one another to increase the pay, but they're all refusing, even knowing that I can only take one position. There's a factory out there right now that isn't able to run a whole shift of production because they're short on the position I'm applying for, and they're turning me down because I'm asking for more than $17 an hour. I know I'm not the first to turn them down, and they just don't care. Somehow they're able to just eat the loss.