[BC] The wrong way to deal with tech budgets

[Peter Smerdon]

I agree 100% Jeff.

I do think, however, that we enthusiasts who were willing to work long 
hours for sub-par wages didn't do ourselves or the industry any favours.
It did discourage the entry of talented, more "wages and conditions" 
oriented, engineers.
I noticed that trend in recruiting in the last 15 to 20 years.
The enthusiasts were no longer there, and most applicants (particularly 
the younger ones - the ones we desperately need) baulked at the package 
offered.
Often it was the on-call element that was the deal-killer - and this is 
where the on-call load was shared by (at least) two people.

Now that radio studios are more IT-based we seem to be trending more 
towards having IT specialists at the studios, who struggle a bit with 
audio (and maybe don't know their limitations there), and outsource the 
RF stuff to contractors or specialist firms.

But it was great while it lasted, and thanks for the ride.
What a ride it was!

Cheers,
-- 
Peter Smerdon.
Melbourne Australia.

On 21/11/2010 7:02 AM, Jeff Johnson wrote:
> Those of us who do this as an extension of our hobbies are mostly 60+,
> myself included.
>
> A recognized component of my salary presently and with Xavier was for being
> on call '24/7, 365, nights, weekends and holidays'. 'Business hours' people
> simply do not 'get it' in general. "Well, when are you off??" "Um, never,
> except when I am out-of-town a few days of the year. That gives them a
> different viewpoint - 'never off'!
>
> When the supply of hobby-based technical 'Renaissance' folks like us is
> gone, then salaries will rise.
>
> "Our transmitter is off, and my eMail does not work, call the engineer!"
> "Well he died two months ago, and no one else can do it all." "Oh."