During the interview process it I implied that the position will result in a 40 to 80 thousand per year income potential, but they hire more installers than they need to keep everyone working on a full time basis, which makes it difficult to realize the 40 to 80 income potential implied in the beginning of employment. Each installer is paid based on 7.8 percent of the sold job, not an hourly rate. The average job is sold for around 2,800 dollars and it takes approximately 7 to 8 hours to install the job properly, which results in an hourly rate of around 25 to 30 dollars per hour. No a bad rate, but not enough jobs are sold to keep each installer working every day. Each installer is only given 2 to 3 jobs per week, which translates into an earning potential of around 34,000 thousand per year. With the down turn of the economy the company has been looking for other sales venues such as commercial work. And this is where employees should be concerned. The company has turned to commercial work to try and keep sales at a profitable margin, but it comes at a cost to the installer. For example: A typical residential job consisting of a tub and wall installation is sold for around $2,800 but the typical commercial job is sold, consisting of the same tub and wall installation for $1,100, which is less than half of the normal amount, but the installer is still paid based on the 7.8 percent of the sale and still takes the 7 to 8 hours to install the product properly. This translates into an hourly rate of 10 to 15 dollars per hour. So Skilled craftsman beware! The companies attitude toward this pay cut is simply, work for less or set at home, because we will find people who will work for less. Unfortunately this is the attitude through out the industry and unless we as a group of skilled craftsman take a stand companies are going to lower the rate of pay to a point that it is difficult to earn a respectful living. Don’t get me wrong, I want to work, but I don’t feel it is worth taking such a significant pay cut just to make the company’s profit margin.
