The OC in LP again
Recently, I posted an article about the Opportunity Cost (OC) problem in Lafourche Parish (the LP). Here we go again. The article in the Daily Comet on Friday, Feb. 23, 2007, was good for another laugh. The parish government wants to hire an engineer to oversee public drainage issues. That is laudable. Without proper drainage, things flood around here. Even with proper drainage, we could still have some flooding problems. Flooded housing and businesses is costly, and, as they say, “an ounce of prevention….”
What is just laughable, is that the parish is offering a salary of a whopping $50,000 a year for this job. Now, I don’t know what kind of engineer or what kind of qualifications they expect with a $50,000 salary, but they better expect one with no engineering degree, with no relevant experience and one who does not expect water to seek its own level or that water runs down grades (I would have said downhill, but in case you haven’t noticed, we really don’t have anything that could be called a hill in Lafourche Parish).
It looks as if they need someone who knows how to set pay levels that match what good employees can get elsewhere, the parish needs someone who can recognize opportunity costs.
Parish adminstrators do not really expect to hire anyone for the job.
MC
February 28th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
As an aspring engineer this particular article interest me. The opportunity cost for the sorry enginer that would take this is ridiculous. A 50,000 a year job woth an opportunity cost of a six figure income!? I think not!
March 1st, 2007 at 7:11 am
Setting a “call order” vastly below marketplace norms usually results in:
1). The order not being filled
2). Having to accept Damaged Goods as “good enough for the price”
3). Possibly ending up with unproven goods (accepting greatly increased risk in exchange for the below market exchange.)
4). Goods from an outsourced location with unharmonized cost structures (and again with higher risks & more hidden costs).
Or a combination.
If market for the level of quality the Parish needs is over $100,000 and they are offering only $50,000 they either expect to catch a failed engineer (one who maybe is uninsurable in the private marketplace) with an idea of reabilitating them, or they just want to tell their voters that they tried (not expecting to actually fill the position). Or perhaps they have an outsourcing goal once the position is unfilled for a politically correct period of time?
Steve W