Many of you are probably too young to have played the Whac-A-Mole game. It was a lot of fun, and in prehistoric times, when I was growing up, we would often see it at carnivals and malls. For those unfamiliar with these, a carnival was like a makeshift mini amusement park, and a mall was a bunch of stores together with a food court.
Sadly, the 2024 version of this game is not nearly as fun. I saw this several times a few months ago, but now it is becoming a new normal. It is basically what I can only consider the job version of the game Whac-A-Mole.
Now, we have all seen the same job reposted repeatedly, but a new twist has begun to emerge. I saw one position posted three months ago for $75/hour. It was not great for what they requested, but it was not horrible. Two months ago, the same job description, title, and company, this time, was for $65.00/hour. Ok, fine, budget cuts happen all the time, but whatever. A month ago, I saw this same job, same company, but it is $55.00/hour. I have seen this process play out many times this year, but now the same job is listed again, same company, same title, and requirements, just now for $40.00 an hour.
I often joke about salaries becoming a race to the bottom, but I need to stop with the jokes; they are inadvertently giving companies ideas. If I continue to see this game played out, I will be whacking that next company and naming names.