I am consistently discouraged and depressed by the pittance wages and complete lack of benefits that employers in my area are offering. It's ridiculous! How they think that someone with a bachelors degree and 5+ years of experience can live a decent life on less than $50k a year without health, dental, vision, disability, etc., is beyond me. I recently applied for a department head position with another company and the salary range was $35k-$40k/yr. WTH??!!! Didn't know that was the salary when I applied but told them during my interview that that was insulting. Now, there were benefits, but I can't pay my daily bills with benefits. Oh, and this position involved traveling and, even though it was considered a department head position, there is no one else in the department. So the person would be responsible for everything, from day to day issues, to answering phones, to driving to a neighboring town to handle issues, to scheduling and overseeing subcontractors, etc. You get the idea.
It wouldn't be so frustrating if the people that I currently work for literally made IN INCOME over $1.2m last year with a much larger net worth due to investments I help manage. The divide between the haves and the have nots is greater than ever. I sit in this office for my full 8+ hours a day doing their shit while they're off golfing, lunching, renovating their kitchen, traveling, whatever. What I and the other severely underpaid support staff do is what allows these people to make the money and live the life of luxury that they do. And they don't appreciate it or acknowledge it. Office jobs don't pay shit but they'd all be in a world of hurt without us. And it's insulting as hell.