[Repoman]

The free market is king. It is a simple supply/demand calculation. If there are people that are qualified and willing to do the work at $7,$8,$9,$10 per hour then that is the going rate for the job at hand.

For example, I was offered a job (lateral transition) in Manhattan 2 months ago at X amount of dollars. I informed the company that the figure was too low for the cost of living in that area and declined the offer because they would not budge on the figure. The job is still open/vacant today. Want to know why? Not enough pay for an applicant that is qualified to do the work.