What other options do we have. We have seen nothing but erosion in the quality of jobs in cable/sat. I cant speak from a personal point of view on the cable side, but I can on the sat side.
I have seen the average rate go from 80/20 to 60/15, in just a little over 2 years. Calculate the decrease in rates along with the cost of living and with the increased scope of work (phone jacks and some times free pole mounts are asked of installers), and what do you get. Some systems now require more expensive 3.0 Mhz ground blocks. Its become just about impossible to negotiate trip charges, where as they used to be pretty standard. I remember when if you called the customer to say youre on the way, and they didnt answer, it was your decision to roll on it, or not.
Sure you can still find a small decent market in the industry and still work under decent conditions, but those are few, and are getting smaller. The HSPs are taking over and running rates into the ground. You can run into WB or DWAY, but how many installers can that market hold, and they're also seeing things decline on thats side of the business. Besides those who are in large metro area where cable and DSL are present, will never even see a WB order.
So what are we to do. People blame everything on hacks. They say hacks ruin the business. I dont think so. No provider has yet to stop a roll out of a new services due to not having the skilled people to install them. The skill is here. The passion is here. But the respect, financially, for installers is not, and I dont see it ever coming if we just sit and wait for it to happen. The reason of "MSOs or DTV are not giving us much, so we cant give techs much" can no longer be accepted. The concept of being paid your worth, and not being paid whatevers left over in the budget, need to be re-introduced in this business.
A company who accepts terms that they know will not allow them to pay respectable rates has no self-respect. If they dont respect themselves, how can they be expected to respect those who work for them. Or am I missing something.
I have seen a post here that had me
. It basically stated it would take an act of GOD for things to turn around. Saying that 5 CAT 5 hurricanes is needed for our worth to be acknowledged. Aint that the truth!! Sad but true....