I work in the resources industry in Australia, which over the last 13 months has seen an explosion in the amount of jobs on offer. Due to our strict border requirements, there is a limited pool of people to hire from. Because of supply and demand, some roles have seen a wage increase up to 80%
My team consists of myself, and 3 field assistants. They report to me, and I report to Senior management. They all informed me today, on our days off. That they have all decided to accept other offers, which pay significantly more money. The two “junior” fieldies have accepted roles paying $45 an hour(They are currently on $29), whereas my senior fieldie has held off on accepting anything until she comes back from her holiday at the end of March. She has put her notice in and wont be returning for her next swing. I gave all 3 of them glowing references with their new employee's and wished them all the best for the future.
I have made repeated attempts to get management to pay myself, and my fieldies a salary that is commensurate with our experience, and prevailing market conditions. Ultimately I have no say in deciding salary's, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
They are under the impression that they pay in line with the national average, but that's bullshit. The culture within the company should be evidence enough to see that there is a very serious problem. The staff turnover is high. If you last 4 months you are an old timer. It's like a brothel. Just a revolving door of people coming and going.
The other problem that exists when you pay fuck all, is you scrape the bottom of the barrel when it comes to recruiting. Anyone who is any good at their job will leave after 4 months in favour of a place that will actually pay them more money, and they probably wont have to work with fucking idiots who don't have any other options.
I hope that these clowns wake up after this exodus of staff, and realise how well and truly fucked my department is right now. But they probably wont. I will probably get asked to explain why I can no longer meet deadlines. 4 more months.