The Job Hunting Trenches

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by sycamore

I turned it down though...I couldn't justify driving or taking the hi-speedline to Norristown every morning for the salary. Montgomery County has to be one of the richest counties, if not the richest, in the Commonwealth. $26,700? Bullshit.

Well, one reason Mongomery County is so "rich" as it has is that it isn't paying enough for such jobs that you would consider commuting from Northeast Philly.

Of course, you could always live somewhere *in* Montgomery County, and spend that money here. In which case you'd get a piece of it back in the form of Philadelphia city wage taxes you wouldn't have to pay anymore. Maybe part of that tax is going to pay the social workers in Philly more money than they would get out here...but somehow I doubt it.

There's evidently enough supply of people qualified for social work up here that they don't need to pay more than $27,000 to get them. County jobs aren't a social program per se (in the sense that *providing* social workers is), and don't exist to "share the wealth", they're driven by supply and demand, just like other labor markets, including the ones you and I work in.

If the market says the job is worth $27k, and the county decided to pay more than that out of tax revenues because "it's a rich county and they can afford it", I think those of us who do live here and do pay those taxes would be highly displeased. I know I would.