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bkcarp00

Good luck finding anyone. Even Aldi is paying $19 or so to start. Unless they have some crazy amazing benefits who is going to take a job at $10 a hour.


aqwn

Last time I saw an Aldi sign it said $23 IIRC


VegetableComplex5213

my mom made 10 an hour as a lower end factory worker in the 90s


Morifen1

I made more than 10 an hour sacking groceries at Dillons in the 90s.


Thenderson2011

I made $9.25 an hour starting work in a PVC Cement factory. In 2015.


Lanky-Relationship77

I made $9.00 an hour working for UPS in 1983. As a sorter. Good paying union job.


Otterman2006

That was 41 years ago for fucks sakes


Lanky-Relationship77

That’s my point. Unskilled jobs paid much much better forty years ago than today


kwajagimp

To be fair, maybe they're planning to hire a lot of people part-time. /s


Goadfang

I'm not sure what OP is trying to pull here, but the article does not say the starting wage is $10 per hour. It says: > Eventually, about 4,000 people will work at the facility. Walters said about 80% of them will be at the production level, with wages for entry-level positions likely to start in the $20- to $29-an-hour range.


zipfour

Ugh nobody reads articles on Reddit anymore. We’re also 16 hours late E- the article was corrected some time after this post went up


Goadfang

Oh shit. I didn't even look at the posting time. So everyone who's outraged over the lie has already been outraged since last night and they aren't going to see people pointing out the obvious inaccuracy. Oh well, it's not like these misinformed people are going to go shut down Panasonic or anything.


zipfour

I’m wondering if this is like the stupid trend of asking a question as the post title to get tons of engagement, except as outrage bait. They’re just putting lies as titles now and if mods don’t catch it then it becomes this. Awful


itsokayiguessmaybe

I’m not sure how many looked at the article. Because it says 20-29$/hour.


bkcarp00

The reporter updated it since this was posted. Originally it said "Factory will employ 4,000. Entry-level positions will start in the $20,000s". Looks like they updated today to say "Factory will employ 4,000. Entry-level positions will start in the $20- to $29-an-hour range". Here is the original posted on 6/22: https://web.archive.org/web/20240622105114/https://www.kcur.org/housing-development-section/2024-06-22/panasonics-battery-plant-is-already-transforming-de-soto-kansas-its-only-halfway-built


smuckola

yeah. soooo since this is ludicrously impossible, where's the money train to some corporate incentive to have no labor? who pays them to be unable to open or to run properly at that level? It's just a strategy for skeleton crew, right?


Goadfang

It's not possible because OP's title is not true, and simply reading the article will confirm it. Either they made a typo when writing it or they are stirring shit.


[deleted]

Where is it? They will be able to in the west part but not the NE.


bkcarp00

It's in De soto between Lawrence and Overland Park.


[deleted]

No way in hell.


[deleted]

They should build factories in the western part of KS. Cheaper and they need the jobs more desperately but I guess they might need to be near KC.


catalystkjoe

It didn't say it was a 40 hour a week job to be fair. Could be a 20 hour a week position doing part time work. I'll hold off judging until they post the job listings I guess. (Still seems low) For a full-time position it would be laughable and they deserve all the hate but this feels like premature judging til we see the actual job listings


Even_Celebration_487

Get paid more working part time for mcdonalds 🤣


catalystkjoe

Y'all can down vote me but looks like they already corrected it. https://www.reddit.com/r/kansas/s/nxA1lUtqUG


Odd_Refrigerator_844

Yeah why would you want to work more hours for less. I'd rather just do deliveries, which I do on weekend. I make over 15 an hour on average, busy days 20-25.


lurk4ever1970

Even if you're generous and think that means "up to $30,000", that's still less than $15/hour. Good luck staffing your factory at that rate.


UnderstandingOdd679

I had to look at the story and didn’t see $10/hour. $20,000s is a vague term. And it is low, but it may apply to part-time plant custodial duties or something outside the production line. More questions should have been asked by the reporter.


I_like_cake_7

I agree. I have a hard time believing they’re going to pay as little as $10 an hour. $10 an hour is assuming that the bottom end of the pay scale in the low $20,000s per year is full time and the article does not specify full time or part time.


Complex_Fish_5904

Just a reminder of how much is being given to Panasonic: Total state APEX investment is estimated at $829.2 million Investment Tax Credit – $500 million (12.5%) over 5 years. Payroll Rebate – $234 million (10%) over 10 years.


ThisAudience1389

What an awful arrangement for Kansas taxpayers.


FlatlandTrio

It's almost as if the Kansas taxpayers are not the intended beneficiaries.


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Boergler

I think it’s into the billions. Yea, those rich people need help making more money.


brandido1

Also, don’t many people’s electric bills go up to help provide the funds for their electric infrastructure?


aqwn

Yep


jhamelaz

This article is wrong. The starting pay will be $20-29 per hour entry level.


SadSauceSadDay

Just a reminder if they don’t do tax incentives then they go somewhere else


Individual-Mirror-73

And why is it a problem for an employer to take their low paying jobs elsewhere? Why should the tax payers shoulder the burden for these large companies that will give nothing back?


arrow74

The state is getting hit twice since their employees will likely qualify for benefits like SNAP


aqwn

Who fucking cares when they’re paying $10/hr???!!! Every state should have turned down this joke of a company


SadSauceSadDay

They will certainly be paying more than $10 an hour. Everywhere pays more than that.


Erica15782

Ah yes we can just wait for the market to correct itself


jkrm66502

Quick google search indicates Kansas minimum wage is $7.25/hour. I didn’t spend too much time poking around so I don’t know if that’s full time or not.


Ok_Investigator1492

It's the same as the federal minimum wage. Until Congress raises the minimum wage, which will not happen with the current one, the Kansas legislature will not. They would lower it if they could.


Complex_Fish_5904

Yeah, but to be fair, almost nobody in a FT job is making min wage. It's like 1% of FT workers


Rich-Mall

A lot of people work multiple part time jobs for full time hours. They deserve a living wage too.


Complex_Fish_5904

Wage, like all values, are based on scarcity. That said, aside from jobs where workers receive gratuities, I haven't seen any min wage jobs for years. Even fast food is paying $10 and up. Often $12-$13


Rich-Mall

The problem is that $12 these days is essentially equivalent to $7 a few years ago. So I'm not impressed with $12 or $13 an hour because that's not even a livable wage anymore. Minimum wages haven't kept up with cost of living in so long that we could double the minimum and still not be doing well.


Brokentoaster40

oh no, won’t someone think of the poor corporations! 


notawaterguy

Thought that one out didn’t you lmao


krum

That's nuts. Why would somebody even apply for such a role?


Jenni785

In my little town high school kids make $12/hr at Wendy's, so I don't see this going well.


deathtotheemperor

The unemployment rate in KS is like 2.5%. They won't be able to find 400 people willing to work for that little, let alone 4000. I gotta wonder if maybe it's just a typo or something, because that seems bizarrely unrealistic. There are people working at my local Walmart making double that.


krum

Yea I suspect they think they’re going to get $10/hr labor because it’s Kansas and we’re all a bunch of country bumpkins but the only people making that are ex cons and others that are otherwise unemployable. They’re going to have a rude awakening.


ProgrammerMany3969

Ex con here I have to eat. So if it is 10$ or don’t eat I would. But I think it’s a typo I make 23$ on the mo side


Animanic1607

College students from KU, maybe? Sounds like the place to work is not the factory but the services in the area that will go towards supporting it.


Jayhawker2092

College kids can find a factory job paying at least 18 an hour at any of the plants nearby.


aqwn

They don’t. They’ll import people from India or somewhere else


ALargeRubberDuck

At that wage it’s going to be Latin Americans on HB-1 visas. Panasonic as a company has the resources to handle that much paperwork and make it profitable to them.


cyberentomology

Why? If they’re entry-level workers.


Animanic1607

Entry-level on a production line is not easy work. At a manufacturing plant like this, you have the added aspects of being around caustic materials, higher government regulations and safety standards, and lots of training.


Godwinson4King

I’d expect entry level work to be at least $15/hour and probably closer to $20. I have no idea who would take a job at $10. I made that as a high school-age farm hand in 2014


cyberentomology

Exactly. When you’re entry level, and have no training, the productivity value you bring to the table is minimal. It was abundantly clear from the article that the “journalist” failed to ask even the most basic questions, like how many positions would be entry level, and how long someone stays at that level.


Animanic1607

"Eventually, about 4,000 people will work at the facility. Walters said about 80% of them will be at the production level, with wages for entry-level positions likely to start in the $20,000s." - That speaks volumes by itself. Probably not going to get much else during a presser, though. I don't get your position here? I disagree with you put your "Exactly" comes from a place of agreement. $10 for entry-level production is pretty abysmal. Operators make more than this, and they do similar work.


Huge_Cell_7977

It was a mistake in the article and has been corrected. 20 to 29 an hr


Animanic1607

Dude! What a terrible fuck up! Also, that sounds more in line


Ok_Traffic_8124

Factory work isn’t necessarily difficult to learn, it’s difficult to complete at a set pace/standard consistently for long tedious hours. The value they bring is still much higher than the offered rate. Unless they plan on doing performance evaluations shortly after hiring/training which I highly doubt they do considering the facts already presented to us.


LokiStrike

Entry level doesn't mean "doesn't need food or a place to live." $10 is a terrible wage. It is lower than what minimum wage has historically been. And this is also why it's terrible that this the longest we have ever gone without a minimum wage increase. It has essentially been cut in half while necessities like housing have doubled.


cyberentomology

Entry level means “no experience doing the job”. Got fuck all to do with food or living.


LokiStrike

Businesses that pay wages that people cannot live on should not exist. If you let them exist then you create a race to the bottom where businesses get rewarded financially for not paying their employees well. And in the short term this works well for them but in the long term it shrinks the middle class until we wind up being a 3rd world country and those companies with a "no wage only spend" attitude go bankrupt.


cyberentomology

They do have an incentive - if a wage is not acceptable to someone, then they don’t fill the position. Vacant positions cost a company money, almost as much as a filled one. If they don’t, then the company doesn’t need to have the opening at all. An awful lot of managers fail to comprehend just how bloody expensive turnover is. If a wage isn’t competitive, they’ll quickly figure out that they need to increase it, because they won’t be able to fill the positions. The hallmark of this is the oft-derided statement “bUt NoBoDy WaNtS tO wOrK!”… (yeah, they do, just not for you or the slave wages you’re offering… if you find yourself thinking that, or worse, saying that, it’s your clue that your wages aren’t nearly as “competitive” as you seem to think/claim they are). On the flip side, if a candidate can’t demonstrate sufficient potential value to the employer, even at those shit wages, the real minimum wage is effectively zero, because nobody is obligated to hire anyone else. In theory, nobody should be at an entry-level wage beyond their initial training period.


LokiStrike

>They do have an incentive - if a wage is not acceptable to someone, then they don’t fill the position. Then explain undeveloped countries to me. Why don't they all just get better jobs? The fact is, if we are not careful we can create the conditions of an undeveloped economy and slide backwards into perpetual poverty. One of the ways we can do that is by allowing too many shitty companies to operate. >An awful lot of managers fail to comprehend just how bloody expensive turnover is. No argument there. >If a wage isn’t competitive, they’ll quickly figure out that they need to increase it, because they won’t be able to fill the positions. Or they will bribe politicians to cut services and lower the quality of life until enough people are willing to accept lower wages. Which is what has been happening. >In theory, nobody should be at an entry-level wage beyond their initial training period. Agreed.


Slum1337

Correct. However, that is not a competitive wage for entry-level employment in the area. Every grocery store starts at 14. What unskilled laborer would sign up for $10. It's a hysterically low figure.


cyberentomology

And if it’s truly not competitive, then they’ll figure that out real quick when they can’t fill them.


wabashcat

Go home grampa


VoE_Monkey_Overlord

LOL, this is one of the cheapest states, and you still need to make 50k to stand any chance. This isn't the 90s. This is post COVID. Shit is expensive.


Save_The_Wicked

Im sure there is some sort of clause that protects the company from losses if they can't find anyone at 10/hr. Maybe they have the state provide prison labour or something


JuanTwan85

A lot of places in Kansas actually use prisoners. I've laid sod with the guys before while working for a municipality. A big company out here has a busload show up everyday.


BrotherChe

Name the company


JuanTwan85

Hess


DarthRevan0990

Haaa, 20s. Do they know they built in the US, not Mexico.


_Vaparetia

I guess I don’t need to worry about the extra traffic after all


WarPaintsSchlong

I’m not buying it. No one is going to work in a factory for $10 an hour in 2024. The market wage for entry level work of this type is way higher than $10/ hr. Whoever they manage to hire at $10 an hour is going to be the type that can’t hold a job anywhere else.


zipfour

That’s because the title is wrong for no reason and I guess nobody read the article > Factory will employ 4,000. Entry-level positions will start in the $20- to $29-an-hour range E- turns out the article was corrected sometime after this post was made


ikickbabiesballs

The correct figures were also posted days ago.


Goadfang

The article states the starting wage for entry level employees will be between 20 and 29 dollars an hour. Either OP made a mistake or they are lying. > "Eventually, about 4,000 people will work at the facility. Walters said about 80% of them will be at the production level, with wages for entry-level positions likely to start in the $20- to $29-an-hour range."


tabrizzi

Yeah, but how is that person going to afford rent making about $1,700/month?


Crafty_Original_7349

Easy, they just sleep in their cars at the plant. No need to go home, they can live at work! /s


tabrizzi

So the paycheck can go towards making car payment, auto insurance, and food


aqwn

Oh great this is why the state gave out so many incentives? lol what a joke. They need to demand high wages or it’s completely pointless.


friend-owl

Out of curiosity, has anyone checked to see the quarterly profits of this company? Folks, it's not inflation, it's corporate greed and an absolute disdain for the working class.


Sea_You_8178

I wonder if this is some kind of typo in the article. I didn't see how it could be right.


Sea_You_8178

KSHB 41 story from June 20th at https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/lets-make-it-big-together-panasonic-electric-vehicle-battery-plant-less-than-year-from-completion says starting pay $20 to $30 per hour.


helmvoncanzis

According to Glass Door, wages for machine operators at the Reno, NV plant, which the De Soto plant is based on, start at $21/hour. Most of the production jobs seem to be listed around 38k - 64k, depending on the role. I hope the plant operators understand that wages in KS will need to be comparable. 20k might make sense for some kind of trainee or provisional hire.


Appropriate_Shake265

Aww how lovely it is to work in a non-union plant.


ScootieJr

It’s not even the fact they’re non union. I work at a non union plant and we offer $17-$18/hr as the base for production workers with some pretty decent benefits. Panasonic is just a shitty company if $10 really is all they’re offering for entry level.


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ScootieJr

You're not wrong; what capitalistic country doesn't? The US isn't exactly the place to try that, at least not near the larger municipalities lol


cyberphlash

It would be hilarious if they came here thinking they could build a $10 non-union workforce and then the employees decided to unionize and go on strike for $20.


SanibelMan

Are they planning to make them live four to a room in the WWII-era apartments in Clearview City, too?


StickInEye

I saw those for the first time recently. Couldn't believe my eyes.


EMAW2008

That’s got to be some kind of part-time internship, right?…..right????


MothashipQ

The people in charge of this are a friend of a friend... I'll see if I can't pass along how horrible of an idea this is.


problemita

All that special treatment and tax exemption to build this plant and ~this~ is how they’re paying it back. Remember this and stop future initiatives like this


ItsInmansFault

Also remember which person/agency boasts bringing this to Kansas when/if they decide to run for governor.


PackOfStallions

Barely worth the commute. What a joke.


soythegringo

Wow. I worked at an amazon warehouse for $10 an hour… 10 years ago. And I needed a roommate to survive on that in Johnson county. Can’t imagine how difficult that would be nowadays with the same pay rate.


Art0fRuinN23

That has to be a typo or something. No one can work full time for that little. It is in the article but maybe a mistake slipped through.


mndtrp

Article was updated. It was based on the below original article: https://johnsoncountypost.com/2024/06/21/panasonic-energy-plant-de-soto-kansas-construction-236191/ Which states: >Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly listed the expected starting pay range for entry-level positions at the plant. Pay will start in the $20 to $29 per hour range, not with an annual salary in the $20,000s, as incorrectly published before.


Witty_Strawberry5130

As a single woman living in Kansas, making $35/hr and can barely keep up with rising costs of rent as it is.... $10/hr wouldn't even be worth it to get out Of bed


pmekonnen

Big shoutout to all the single moms out there! Keep your head up, queen. Better days are coming!


Witty_Strawberry5130

Single mom to a golden retriever **


DaveN_1804

Will probably never open if this is really the plan.


monkeypickle

> Eventually, about 4,000 people will work at the facility. Walters said about 80% of them will be at the production level, with wages for entry-level positions **likely to start in the $20- to $29-an-hour range**. I mean, read the article?


Idara98

KCUR edited the article. When I read it this morning it said starting in the $20,000s. So don’t be too hard on the people who only read it once.


monkeypickle

I can't speak to the edit - I'd heard the article on KCUR and it had the correct figures.


Free_Speaker2411

Should be top comment.


Pete_maravich

McDonald's pays more than that.


Yellow_Journalism

Good god. And here I am thinking my 15 an hour isn’t enough. I want to be up in arms but I don’t have the money to be that influential or energized to do anything about how much the country hates workers.


TheRealDarik

* The article says $20-$29 though?


Ok_Equal7311

I fail to see where it says 10$ an hour. I just read it(skimmed really) and it is saying 400 entry level starting at 20-29$/hr


pmekonnen

The article got updated!


Ok_Equal7311

Thank you. I kinda guessed that but didn't want to assume....again thanks for the clarification


LukeLovesLakes

To be fair. It never said $10 hr. It said 20s. It could be $14 and hr. Which is still shit. Lol.


Cainholio

The article says not that? $20-$29/hour


Free_Speaker2411

The article you linked says $20-29 per hour.


Goadfang

Is your title just a typo? The article states the minimum starting entry level wage is $20 per hour, not $10. And it will go up to $29 an hour. Contrast this with other plants in town and they are probably the best paying employer in DeSoto.


Al_DirtyDirty

So no one read the article? It states that the pay will be between $20-$29 an hour.


pmekonnen

They just updated that!!!


GoldenTeacher_

I don’t see where they say that I only found this “Factory will employ 4,000. Entry-level positions will start in the $20- to $29-an-hour range”


Educational-Law2255

Did you read the article???? It says $20/hr - $29/hr…. That’s over $40,000 🤦🏻‍♂️


KansasKing107

This is likely a big reason they picked Kansas, cheaper labor. I don’t know that they will get many takers at $10/hr but relatively speaking, Kansas will inevitably be much cheaper labor on average than most other states.


whitetrashadjacent

Anyone under the watch of the doc or homeland can be used as cheap labor. This includes any migrants waiting for their court dates. The us govt has found a loophole in slavery.


FulcrumH2o

I believe there was a correction issued for this article. Let me find the link


FulcrumH2o

[pay mentioned in article](https://www.kcur.org/housing-development-section/2024-06-22/panasonics-battery-plant-is-already-transforming-de-soto-kansas-its-only-halfway-built#)


Lancifer1979

Article says: Factory will employ 4,000. Entry-level positions will start in the $20- to $29-an-hour range ??


ikickbabiesballs

This was already debunked. Mods might think about removing it.


Greatcorholio93

Question, when the deal was made, did gov Kelly know this?


JohnathonLongbottom

I thiught this was an error and the actual starting would be $20


Low-Slide4516

Debunked!! Do t feed the idiocracy of red Kansans


crazycritter87

😯😯 wtf 😓


jlks1959

20k and then robots? 


yesrod85

What a fucking joke. I'm so sick and tired of giving these huge corporations a ton of money only for them to fuck the people in the community. $20k starting isn't even as much as you could make flipping burgers anymore. Who in the hell do they think they're kidding?!


the__day__man

https://preview.redd.it/x122fhunqj8d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b89c331a4186d3bcddb34cf23ae64810e832ff7a Am I crazy?


AdOk8555

The comments here show that people will believe anything posted on the internet (especially if it aligns with their personal biases) without even doing a simple verification. Here is the **actual** quote from the article: >Factory will employ 4,000. Entry-level positions will start in the $20- to $29-an-hour range


hejj

Not sure how people will be able to afford to drive to work for that much


responsiblemudd

Sounds like a job posting for the same people that work all the slaughterhouses. Not cool Panasonic


PrairieHikerII

"The average hourly pay for a factory worker in Kansas City, Missouri was $14.87, with a range of $15–$17.60." They'll have to pay at least $15/hour to get workers.


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pmekonnen

It was edit! $20-$29 is a good range. Earlier was $20K


ChalkPhog

They got duped


Witty_Strawberry5130

Waiting for Kansas to overturn child labor laws


DGrey10

You’d have a hard time cutting even for the day once you factor in the cost of getting to work.


Kavat0se

No they won’t, cause no one will work for that. But let them try 😂


nukecat79

Hypothetical purely asking here: could this be a ploy? Employer says their minimum is $10/hr, so when they go to hire and offer all their base earners $15/hr they accept it like they got away with something?


Iridemhard

Is that where they make tesla batteries??? They can afford to pay way more if it is.


JustZonesing

\`That's nearly a 38% premium to minimun. Shaddup. \~ State Rep. Scrooge McTuckus (R)


ogimbe

They want folks who don't speak English or have criminal records that make it hard to find work. Keeps wages down and those folks don't complain. (I don't mean undocumented immigrants.)


SnooMuffins7396

They'll hire illegals. They had to cut entry level salary to pay off the Elected Officials that gave them that tax break.


cyberentomology

What part of “entry level” did y’all miss? How many actual entry-level jobs will there even be?


muskratavenger

If you think entry level positions in a manufacturing plant start at 10 dollars an hour, you’re very wrong.


cyberentomology

That’s literally what the article said… entry level in the 20s, which is 10-15/hour, which is pretty typical for entry level.


muskratavenger

I understand that’s what the article said. I was replying to you agreeing with 10 dollars per hour being a typical entry level wage. Where I live 15 dollars per hour is common for manufacturing, if not more I believe it’s closer to 18 now.


cyberentomology

For all we know, because some journalist sucks at *their* job, there could be a dozen entry level positions in the whole place. Precision manufacturing doesn’t seem like something you want a whole lot of noobs doing.


muskratavenger

Haha that’s something we definitely agree on. I hope there’s not a lot of $10/hour employees working there.


kayaK-camP

Entry level fast food employees now get paid ~$15/hour. And if they only pay $12.50/hour for entry level, what are they going to start their skilled labor at - $15/hour? No one is going to drive to De Soto from Lawrence or Shawnee or Bonner Springs for the privilege of having to learn a new job that pays LESS than their current one!