Minimum wage — a subject long debated by economists and employees alike. This topic is particularly relevant for college students who work part-time jobs on campus while juggling an immense load of schoolwork and extracurricular activities, as many on-campus jobs don’t pay as much as the average student would like.
While the minimum wage for the state of North Carolina is $7.25 per hour, states such as New York and California maintain $15 per hour, while a handful of other states are moving toward $15 in the near future. Currently, nine other states such as Florida, Connecticut and New Jersey are in the process of raising their wage to $15 over the course of the next four years.
Moreover, as North Carolina and the research triangle in particular are experiencing an influx of people moving to the area for job purposes, the cost of living has risen significantly in various sectors. For example, Wake County’s cost of housing index went up to 124.8, significantly higher than the average figure of 81 for North Carolina in comparison to the U.S. average being set at 100.
Curious as to the views of my fellow coworkers at the Carmichael Pool in WellRec, I created a survey exploring their thoughts on our minimum wage and results revealed succinctly that 89% of lifeguards did not believe that their wage is proportionate to their job. Training and requirements for a lifeguard position include a rigorous Red Cross lifeguard and CPR certification that must be renewed yearly. Lifeguards must also train for several hours on most Sundays in addition to their regular shifts, maintain fitness, and pass rigorous tests regularly. 91% of respondents also said they are more likely to seek off-campus employment to get higher pay, indicating the clear competition between off-campus jobs and on-campus employment.
Surveying the campus’ immediate area, it became clear that employment opportunities are in abundance. Students might be much more likely to seek a job on Hillsborough or in retail near campus. For instance, Walmart is currently offering $12-$15 per hour for various store and warehouse positions, Target is offering $15 per hour on Hillsborough Street and other nearby locations, and Amazon is offering in Raleigh anywhere between$15-$20 per hour for part-time positions in delivery and sortation stations, fulfillment center and warehouses.
I reached out to Kristie Juda, human resources manager at Campus Enterprises, who explained the recent 2022 decision to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10 for all positions on campus.
“Every campus division or college has the opportunity to establish their own hourly pay rates for their student workforce,” Juda said.
The various departments base their wages on skill sets, market research, and relative comparison to other establishments. Campus employers recognize the structure of the job through a “four-tier system,” which focuses on students gaining responsibility and achieving leadership roles as time goes on. Juda highlighted the dining halls, labs, WellRec, and libraries as divisions that earn the same wage.
Due to a shortage of student labor available, specifically in the dining sector, Campus Enterprises has raised the wage accordingly.
“The shortage is, unfortunately, filtering into some of our other departments,” Juda said. “We are having challenges with recruiting and hiring students for the Lonnie Poole golf course and its maintenance department. And they’ve even run into some low turnover over the course of the last year, which really led us to increase our wage scale also for dining employees for the spring semester.”
When speaking with some students working on campus, it appeared that for some the value of working on campus was not necessarily measured in dollars and cents. Although campus jobs pay less than many other off-campus jobs, these positions usually offer accessibility, scheduling flexibility and the opportunities to explore teamwork and leadership roles while socializing with their college peers.
But students, as much as they love working with their peers and avoiding unnecessary commutes, are certainly looking elsewhere and weighing their options when it comes to employment despite the recent hike of salaries around campus to $10 per hour. Ultimately, it seems that the fierce competition for workers in today’s market explains the looming pressure for higher pay around campus, especially in lieu of staggering inflation and higher cost of living.
Students, just like anyone else, are spending entities and current campus salaries are less likely to support even the humblest of budgets, especially for upperclassmen who typically live off campus. Ideally, it would be best to frequently reevaluate campus salaries in different sectors of employment, compare them to similar jobs outside campus and survey recent economic factors around the Raleigh area as far as housing, and the cost of living in general.
After all, work in itself is a work-in-progress.
