Blame the economy not libbers. sm
Posted By: CrispyCritterMT on 2008-11-06
In Reply to: How did libbers ruin it for SAHM? - where did that come from?
Actually I could have written your post, except for the women libbers part and the SAHM. I've been doing this for 32 years. My ID says it all. The economy makes it almost a necessity to have a 2-paycheck income if you have kids. I'm single with no kids and trying to make a living with MT with no second income. Its tough.
Women wouldn't have the opportunities they do now if it wasn't for the libbers and the suffragettes. Its great now we have more choices than ever. Do you realize it hasn't even been 100 years since women had the right to vote? And we came close to having a woman president! I think about all the sacrifices the women before us went through to get us where we are today. One reason I make sure I vote is to honor their sacrifices.
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How did libbers ruin it for SAHM?
Back then, you didn't have many choices. Now you do, thanks to those libbers. And a woman today is just as capable of seeking and finding a guy with old-fashioned values who doesn't want his wife to work and has the ability to be the sole breadwinner. The libbers didn't take away that choice from you, you took it away from yourself if you married someone that either wanted you to have a job or couldn't support a family on his income alone.
I got a pay cut for the economy
Now I make less than 3 cpl. Really! Don't think I'm not looking for something else. I might even give the company the same retro-notice they gave me when I leave, which was an email saying effective two-weeks ago, your pay is now lower than snake dung in a wagon trail. And they sent me such a nice Christmas card too!
Sure, I would work for two companies. Clearly, it doesn't pay to be dedicated. Whose to say they even need to know about each other anyway?
I believe it is the economy ..
Many MTs got fed up and left the field but now as the outside jobs dry up, they seem to be coming up. It is definitely a good market for the MT companies and a horrible market for the MT. Competition is horrendous!
I have had the same experience but now work for a great person. Would like more work but it's not essential. Working for a super ethical, honest and fun person is wonderful and, sadly for me, a rarity.
economy
It's not just the MT industry. People around the country are getting laid off right and left and many others are being forced to take a decrease in pay and/or benefits. Even nurses are being laid off in my state (with a nurse hiring freeze). Over a year ago, one of my sons was laid off and the other had to take a 35% pay cut several months ago. A good MT friend of mine also had to take a pay cut and is averaging $4 less per hour than before. My friend's husband also lost his job to to downsizing and the economy. I'm make a little less myself than I used to, but I still have my benefits and have a job with a company I really like. I thank God for that because I'm on my own, 1 paycheck, and have no one else to rely on.
Right-on. Normally, in an economy such as ours, you'd
a saving grace. Something that people who were rural, or in small towns where the mine or the mill or the GM plant closed down, could do that was good American work, that not only benefitted American citizens who were patients of American doctors and hospitals, but also that paid money into the tax system. And if the hard-working American workers earned a living wage, they might be able to buy houses, or GM cars, or support all the other businesses that have died. But when the work goes offshore, and little to no American taxes get paid, and the system further hemorrhages money to pay for buying to support those of us who are now displaced, whether it be out of a job, or out of a home, things just spiral out of control. Look at GM. They just plain got too big, as did many of the banks, stock brokerages, and other big business. Bigger is not always better, and what better example of that than the MT business.
The economy
Evidently the economy is starting to show its ugly head for us now. We really were the lucky ones in the beginning, but as more people got laid off and lost their health insurance, I feel that we are now seeing the effects. Hospital censuses are down, MTSOs are losing volumes, etc.
I totally understand the frustration and desperation that is on this board, but I think that the issues are a lot broader than a bunch of suits sitting around with cigars laughing at MTs or MTSOs coming together to fix prices or to push all of the work offshore.
I honestly feel that this is a result of the recession and everyone is feeling it... not just MTs.
That's my 2 cents worth.
ENOUGH WITH THIS ECONOMY CRAP --- sm
True, the economy has taken a whipping for the last 3 quarters or so -- recession as of last fall, less than a year, so how do you blame the continuing DECREASE in MT salary since the last 10-20 years? Or maybe figure we dumb MTs can't add or put 1+1 together. You middlemen/suits/MTSOs have been making a FORTUNE off of the back and sweat of hard-working, underpaid MTs or years and years (otherwise, you'd be in a different line of work, wouldn't you?) and you darned well know it. So stop blaming the current economy! What was your excuse 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 years ago?
They have not helped the economy of the masses
in India who need help. They have helped to deepen the rift between the classes, - the rich get rich, etc. The poor in India cannot even consider moving to get work now because the cost of housing in cities has escalated since we have created jobs for those who really did not need jobs. And those who need health care are really suffering and why? Because the trained doctors and nurses are the ones who have become the transcriptionists, since the transcriptionists make more than a doctor does in India. Check your facts on India. This one-sided trade agreement with India is not helping anyone but the big companies in America who can get work done cheaply. The companies HAVE increased their rates for the hospitals, have decreased our salaries by this farce they call voice recognition and reduced their costs even further by offshoring the work.
A call from the CEO? I do not even know his/her name, nor the names of any of the corporate officers. That is how much they care about me. Yeah, I got a mouse pad, a 1x12 inch glue down calendar, and a pen. I got more than that from the Golden Arches when they gave me a chicken sandwich when they opened up a new line 2 months ago. At least everyone in my family got a free sandwich.
Yeah. Why is it everyone forgets economy was
nm
In this economy, lots of places (not just MT)
The ground-level people usually are not cut during a sale, but if mid and/or upper management start making an mass exodus, that could be a sign.
For the most part, you won't know until it is a done deal.
I thas nothing to do with the economy...it started before that (sm)
It has to do with the fact that they are over-staffed and in order to get your lines met, you have to rush through every friggin report in order to get to the next one in hopes that you can make your line count.
JMO.
Frontline Episode on the Economy
I watched this on PBS last night and found it very interesting. There was a lot of commentary on behind-the-scenes kinds of things that gave far more insight to the situation and how it was handled than came across in the news at the time.
The difference is - when economy improves
And what has been the excuse for the steady decline prior to the economy being the new, improved wage cutting excuse?
Chiquita, I see you like to play devil's advocate and defend the indefensible. I think the sky is blue...ready to argue that also?
MT companies competing in global economy. Best
xx
Economy affecting work load
Is anyone else out there who may be struggling for lines thinking like me; that it may be people are just not going to doctors or electing for treatment they can possibly put off because they cannot afford it? My accounts have been pretty slow over the past 6 weeks or so, and when I hear that some people, especially the elderly who lost or suffered a huge reduction in their retirement when the stockmarket went down the tubes, are forgoing medical care in order to buy food or heat their homes, it makes me wonder how huge an impact this could eventually have on our jobs as MTs.
economy trickle-down effect hit me hard
company i was working for filed BK and no one new. Two unpaid invoices later, out $5K for October. I new there would be an October surprise.....I just thought it would be in the presidential race.
Apparently they're 'equilibrating for a global economy'. n/m
x
Global economy's grip on the short hairs
This is what happens in a global economy. I don't know for sure, but I would hazard a guess that the companies with the ads paying the miniscule amounts are not behemoth MTSOs. Sadly, they feel the need to try to undercut the MTSOs that do have the advantage of sending their work across the Pacific where 5 cents a line would be considered golden. Much like the Union Label we're told to look for on clothes, maybe the real American little companies would be better served to charge a little extra for the service, and pay the Transcriptionist a living wage, because I'll bet there are still some individuals/clinics/etc. that would pay for the security and skill that an American MT provides.
I've decided that MTSOs are sticking it to all of us and blaming the economy -
Here's my thinking -- they all have boats, or houses, or a lifestyle they love so they think HEY... LET'S SCREW THE LITTLE GUY... cut benefits, cut pay, cut jobs, just cut cut cut cut... so that MY life is sweet. In the process people lose healthcare, income, homes, cars, MARRIAGES....
so thank you, MTSO owner, for shoving it right up our southpole... we love you for always looking out for us... NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and MTSO -- the only reason we don't move on is because there's nowhere to move TO. Everyone has followed your lead and decided shafting the worker bee is a great idea. Well .. it's not. And someday you'll get it back 10 fold.
I'm thinking economy and people just aren't having elective surgeries or (sm)
going to docs and really think twice before heading to the ER. I put off my son's braces for a while and just made the appt this week after going for his consult a year and a half ago!! I know how you feel though; it's hard not to be paranoid these days!
Don't blame you.
This career is nothing special. I have been treated as badly as in any career I've had. Doesn't matter how hard you work or how much smoochin ya do, you get burned every way you turn.
My opinion of this industry has changed drastically in the last year. It sux.
I used to come to this board and wonder why people were angry and bitter and negative. It didn't take me long to figure it out.
Companies think we are so desperate to sit at home in our little prison cells we call offices that we will put up with anything.
There's a few good places out there, but they continue to dwindle. I'm glad I happened into this line of work when I did. With just around five years, I'm not too stuck to get out. I got a nice job outside the house that's easy and fun and pays well, and this is just a hobby anymore. If I hadn't paid so much for my education, I'd find a new hobby.
I would be more apt to blame
your employer for this and not UPS .. all things are traceable through their system and when they tell you overnight .. they mean it .. unless this week you live in Denver. I would talk to the FutureNet people. UPS cares about their reputation.
Can't say that I blame you! nm
nm
they need to look at mgt & not blame the MTs
It is mgt/team leads that is telling MTs not to record extra hours for OT if they work extra. That is not the MTs fault!!! Don't be nasty to the MTs who are the bread and butter of your company or everybody will quit!
I don't blame you one bit but....
There is an unrest afoot that is probably going to impact the people who pay us peanuts for our valuable talent. I am an MTSO and still have lots of work but I am not fooling myself that it will get worse before it gets better. In the 1970s we all got fed up with the low pay and walked off the job. Then the powers that be realized that they must pay us more. It got better for a long time but now we are up against India, VR and EMR. All those things are proving to not be what they are cracked up to be and it is just a matter of time before they realize again they they must pay us for our valuable expertise. So if you still want to get out, may I suggest real estate? If you rae smart enough to to MT, then you are smart enough to do RE. Anyway, just my $.02 worth.
I cannot blame the ones who have
had bad experiences with MQ, everyone is different with different needs, but this is exactly why I came back to MQ. I tried others over the years and have had the same experience you mention here. I need to work full time to support my family and so far MQ has been the only company that can provide me with consistent work, unfamiliar or familiar accounts - it is all money to me. 
I don't blame you at all...sm
Let me know how it goes and if you get your own accounts.
Everybody else to blame
You chose where to put your money. Yes,it's easier to blame everybody else. Go ahead a be a victim if you want, but it doesn't have to be that way. If you keep blaming everyone else for your problems,don't expect your situation to get any better.
Half the problem with our economy now is the victim mentality and everybody wanting someone else to take care of them and tell them what to do, and then when things go wrong, throwing blame at everyone and refusing to take any responsibility for their own actions.
I don't blame you one bit...
for getting out if they cut your pay for editing yet they get the paid the same as text. I think it's awful, and more MTs should not be putting up with that. I'm just saying for myself, where I am right now, I enjoy my job, make good money, great boss, and flexible hours.
Hey I don't blame you
not in the least little bit.
It's rough out there and to be frank, after 10 yrs of this work it seems it's gotten to be kind've the same all over. Just a small recommendation though, keep looking for other jobs as well. I don't mean quit Oracle, just another part-time job in addition. It's good to have a safety net.
Good Luck and I hope it works out for ya !
I don't blame her one bit. She will sm
find another job probably better than the one she had. Family still comes first and these companies an scr## themselves!
But really, can we blame her? If any of us
do the same thing. I worked for MDI. I loved MDI. I have always known D to be someone of yes, integrity. I don't believe her integrity flew out the window. There is surely a lot we don't know. And of course, D would not have been at liberty to discuss the coming merger before it happened.
D is a businesswoman. The purpose of a business is to generate income. She ran her company with honesty and integrity. I can't say I wasn't suprised, shocked even, at what has happened. But I have known D since the early 90s and I know she is a good person and truly cares about people. I don't know how to reconcile that with what has happened other than to think there is more to the story than we know and that it is the decision that D needed to make at this time for whatever reason, whether it be to ensure a secure retirement, whether it was because she was no longer able to compete with offshoring and VR - and I think this may be part of it because she had told me at one time that facilities were wanting to pay for transcription in light of VR and offshoring and their ability to get it for less elsewhere, or whether she was just tired and ready to not be the one at the helm any longer.
Whatever the reasons, I choose to believe that D is still the person of integrity I have always known her to be. I just accept that there must be more to the story than I know.
I wish the best to D and to all MDIers. I feel like an era has come to a close and it will never be the same again. But I feel lucky to have been a part of Signal and MDI and to have known D.
blame on the advertisements
.
Hee, Hee - see all the stingy MTs - don't blame you either. nm
nm
Please, do not blame Dictaphone,
they are only doing what company says to do, they state that. The problem is, you don't know what the company tells them to put it at, unless Dictaphone does not know how to do this. I have found the most honest accounting is when you can go into sessions and it shows you the number of reports you have done and the line count. it is hard to manipulate line counts when you can double check them. You cannot do this when you have to go to the Dictaphone web site to get a conglomeration of line counts with nothing broken down. No single numbers, just the total line counts. Thus, if you lose 2-3 dictations in a day, no wonder you line count is down - your company gets the lines but YOU don't, not if the reports are dropped.
Don't blame you for wanting out. All
s
temporarily down and no one to blame
crap happens
ExText is not to blame .. the
clients determine the lines and how they are counted. ExText merely follows the commands of the person inputting the data as it is hardware that needs to be set by a person! Your company or hospital should, however, disclose how they are paying you and you certainly should ask for that information and get an answer or then I would certainly be wary.
Don't blame you for leaving
I worked for Focus for almost 5 yrs but with new management - aka Nuance - no thanks - income dropped, accounts lost, no job security and I was losing $500 a month compared to when Focus ran the show!! You did great for leaving!!!
I blame the schools also.
Work at home, big money, easy job. Yeah, right. Just like stuffing envelopes.
Blame it on the Indians! LOL ! Like everything else! LOL..nm
nm
VR companies to blame
I had the same experience. My MTSO did not initiate the VR. They claimed they would not be making any profit. The hospital bought the VR platform on the promises of how great it was, how much money it would save them. In a conference call about it, my MTSO said they were making no profit. I am not sure I buy that. But then they said something interesting, and I am not sure if I understood it correctly. They said the VR company gets a percentage of the line rate for the hospital using the platform. That shocked me. So, the hospital is saving money, the VR company is making money, the MTSO is making money, and not much left for the MT. I could have understood this wrong, but that was my take on it.
Sure, blame the reader for your
You do realize it is neither your responsibility nor within your power to 'make' any other MT behave as you desire?
I understand why so many posters do this, though: It deflects the frightening possibility that low wages, downsizing, lost benefits, etc., could ever happen to them onto those to whom it has already happened. It's a denial/distancing/coping mechanism. Totally get that.
But it's still obnoxious and unhelpful for others to read. No one asked for the nagging, ma.
Further, I would gently suggest you look up 'victim' in the dictionary. You may note that victimization requires two parties. Insisting only one of them bear any responsibility for the circumstances is like insisting your kid make the seesaw go up and down when he's the only one on it.
Hope that helps! If I've inspired only one MT to surf on before posting another sanctimonious lecture, my work here is done! I will prove that my work here is done by returning to the thread continually to insist that I am right and everyone else is just wallowing in victimhood/poor reading comprehension! Then I will ice the cake by blaming the whole contretemps on their bad childhoods.
Sorry, but I've got nothing but eyeroll for your input at this point.
Yep, blame the MT for no work!
Same situation at both companies - I came, I worked, I made money, the work disappeared, I went broke, I moved on.
Sure, its MY fault that work dries up after a year or so at each job I get. I spread the curse of no work everywhere, and soon I may be getting a job at your company - so beware! Your work will disappear in the next year or so!
Do not blame the MTs for company mistakes
I just received an email from my MT supervisor stating that she wanted to let us know that we just lost 3 worktypes on a major account because we were not transcribing, editing and delivering to the client within our contracted turn around time. She said she was sharing this information in hopes that we will realize how important it is for us to work our shifts,etc.
All of us working on this specific account are ICs. What has been happening is they want to treat us like employees. We get demanding emails to work and tons of how to do lists. No one at this company are employees,yet they want us to work like employees. When are companies going to realize that if you want someone to work a set shift and answer and read daily emails, then they should make us employees. This particular company send out daily long emails and only pay 5 cpl to edit acute care accounts with no benefits on escription. As an IC I never put all my eggs in one basket and especially not for 5 cpl. I do not feel the MTs should be blamed for losing these work types. I feel the company should take responsibility for this.
If the MTs are not meeting TAT or their said upon line count, then management should have let them go. However, I personally am required to meet 2,500 per pay and that is exactly what I do and no more at these rates and especially not for this company who make demands on us like we are partners in the company. I feel companies try to get off cheap by hiring ICs, but then try to hold you down to a schedule and treat you like an employee when you are not. This loss of work is the companies fault. Any opinions. Thanks
MTSOs have only themselves to blame for their plight.
They were so quick to jump on the bandwagon and train the indians, etc., to do work cheaply and now that they are trained, they are taking their work away. They will not wake up until they find that their nice little management jobs are just as easy to outsource as are the MT jobs.
I dont blame you on the taxes
My husband makes more than that himself though, so we are stuck with the taxes no matter what. They take half our pay checks, I just did our return and had to write them a nice fat check for that, and then find out we dont get the stimulus check (big shocker there). Just seems like we get screwed from every different direction.
With the cost of living what it is, I sure don't feel like we are rich but the government seems to think we are and taxes accordingly.
Why blame MTSO owners?
What's so hard about that? If you don't like being an employee, then become a business person and charge the big bucks. Many of you probably have never even managed your own accounts, but all ready to say how you are underpaid for what you do.
This career is based on production. Get used to it. Paid days off? Who gets those? Even if you do, it is probably a smidgen of what you would make if you worked as an employee that day.
Have fun fighting AHDI as well. I'm sure their hands will be in the till. 
I wouldn't blame you if you threw sm
in the towel on this. But please for those of us who DO appreciate it, if you never do another interview, do this one! After that, it is up to the rest of us. The ones who want to gripe and complain are always the ones who gripe the loudest too about no work, outsourcing, offshoring, no hours, supervisors and just complaining in general. some folks you can't please no matter what you do. I wouldn't want to take the abuse either, but its started, please finish if for no one else YOURSELF!!!!!!! I, for one, APPRECIATE IT. The ones who are being the nitpickers about the difference between outsourcing/offshoring are probably the same folks in QA who will throw a perfectly good report back or fire you for a misplaced comma!!!!!!!! Please hang in there!
It's a foot in the door. I don't blame them for grabbing it up
I started out the same way, making .05 per line about 4 years ago now. It was my foot in the door. I was on full QA for about a week, quickly went to .06 per line, then .07, and then changed to an account that was .08, in less than a year. I've since moved on from that company, and I think I'm doing pretty well for myself now, but I wouldn't be here if I hadn't taken the opportunity when it came along.
I think you hit the nail on the head. We blame our company (sm)
and these other countries when in fact it is our very own country that makes it profitable for them to do this.
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