Re: Techwriters of the World: Unite!

[Andrew Plato <intrepid_es -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

<tgr -at- lanminds -dot- com> wrote 
 
> I told the recruiter that not only was the hourly wage an 
> abomination, but that I would be doing all my fellow tech writers a 
> disservice by cooperating with miserly employers who want to take 
> advantage of hard economic times to pay us substandard wages. I don't 
> fault anyone for doing what they have to to make a living - I have to 
> pay a mortgage, too - but I urge all my tech writing comrades not to 
> accept employment at wages that enable employers to devalue our work. 
> In the long run, we will all suffer for it.

Not how it works, Tony. The market decides rates. You are in competition
with all other writes. In essence, you are asking me not to compete with
you. Sorry, not how it works. If you want to drop the ball for your
values, that's cool. But don't fault others for picking it up and running
with it. 

If somebody is willing to work for $40 an hour and you're not, then they
will get the job. That is how free markets work. You are in competition
with everybody else. If you set your rates too high, you'll price yourself
out of the market. Why hire you when for $20 less per hour, somebody else
will do just as good a job (assuming skill and competence levels are
equal). 

Given the current market situation - working is better than not working.
This week alone there was a 1200 point drop in the DOW.  The markets have
fundamentally changed and as such there is tremendous downward pressure on
salaries and rates.

This is compounded with the softness of the tech writing profession as a
whole. Many organizations, unfortunately, do not view tech writing as a
critical function. As such, they are reducing and slashing their
expenditures in this area. Basically, if you want a job at all, you'll
have to start reconsidering your rates. Otherwise, you're likely to end up
with nothing. 

I urge all writers to be practical, pragmatic, and realistic. The salad
days of 1998 and high-paying contracts are gone. We back to reality now,
and you have to compete if you want to get ahead.  

Andrew Plato 



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