It's that 'ol GREED factor, again! - no/msg.
Posted By: You could never pay me enough to work in India! on 2007-11-19
In Reply to: I might add . . - MTness
x
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Yep. It's the greed of the suits and the greed of the
x
the key factor would
be do they consistently have an abundance of work?
Luck is a factor
but are MT companies all so bad? If you have been at 10 companies in 10 years, and all were bad, that is very bad luck and I feel for you. I've been with only 1 company for the 2-1/2 years I've been doing MT and have had no problems with them. Good account, good supervisors, good pay, occasionally run low on work, but rarely. I get very nervous reading that so many companies out there are horrible. Actually a lot of people think my company is horrible from the posts I read here, but it hasn't been for me. I'm going to be nervous if I have to look for a new job.
There must be a personal talent factor to it. SM
So many say they lose money, I'm another who definitely makes more editing, i.e., significantly more than double the line count, but then I'm not a fast typist, so shifting a lot of the emphasis from fingers to reading and editing decisions works for me. Now, if only I had fast fingers, too...
definitely a deciding factor there. I am already stressed
with my current situation and huge cut and turned down a few other offers b/c high ESL would be MORE stressful, so good to know. thanks so much for the heads up...are you a TT?
you didn't factor in what you would have spent
working in an office - clothes, shoes, gas, vehicle wear-and-tear, driving in bad weather, lunches, travel time (what's your time worth to you), make-up (I only wear make-up when I'm going out), laundry (I wear my sweats twice before washing), office donations/kids selling stuff, manicures/pedicures, pantyhose (I count that separate from clothes cuz it's a PITA to wear).
Then there's all the stuff you miss out on cuz you're working - kids' school programs, ball games, dance recitals, on and on.
I'd love to make more than 9 cpl, but the truth is a lot of us don't even make that. You have to weigh the good with the bad. I'd rather make a little less than have all the stuff above to deal with. I never got in this biz to become a millionaire. I got it in to be home and I wouldn't give that up for a few extra bucks!!!!
VR, $$ and Greed
You have put the situation into words better than I have seen before. I will definitely post my resume now in hopes of getting on with a smaller company. I worked for a large national and everything was about what was best for them, not the MTs. Regarding VR, I ultimatly lost my job because of it. Strange as it may seem, the system actually picked up foreign accents better than good English. Also, to keep from having to admit that the top exec goofed in paying a fortune for the system, they said it was working just fine. The end product was not from the VR system, it was from MTs deleting the VR dictation and transcribing from scratch. All this said, they were able to cut roughly 2/3 of the transcriptionists. This was a large clinic and they lost a number of doctors who refused to use the VR because of risks associated with it. Such a mess!
Exactly!! It is greed!
nm
Some things to consider that factor into line rates. sm
There are two sides to this. The larger companies like MQ, Spheris, Transcend, Keystrokes, et AL have a lot more accounts and more volume so they make their money on volume and can pay more. They also have more overhead than smaller MTSOs and need payroll people, recruiters, benefits people, etc.
But here is what no one considers: If I pay someone 0.09 per line, I have to pay taxes and unemployment on them. My portion is 15% between SS and unemployment. Benefits such as PTO and the portion I pay for insurance and 401K (there is a fee to the employer to have someone run it at the company that you have your 401K with), etc cost me approximately 22% more. So actually, 9cpl + 37% = 12.3cpl. Add the cost of doing payroll, bank fees, liability insurance, etc. and there is not a whole lot left over. Most hospitals will not pay more than 13cpl, some 14cpl. My break-even is 13.2 cpl. This is normal; I talk to many MTSOs at MTIA meetings and on my own. The big ones above are the only ones that make a lot of money, but their companies produce a lot of lines every month.
Do I make good money? Yes, but I put in a lot of time getting accounts and keeping them happy, doing the juggling act to keep my employees busy on good accounts. Payroll takes time, recruiting takes time, sales take time PLUS a lot of accounts take a lot of day-to-day work.
I am not complaining about being an MTSO, I just want you to know that there are two sides to everything and the industry changes prevent us from paying more than 7 to 9 cpl. Factor in offshore driving our costs down and those companies that undercut everyone, and small MTSOs may go the way of 8-Track Tapes.
I see the industry going to just 10 companies or so and hopefully they can stay in business too with speech recognition, offshore and everything else that comes along.
To Cece regarding VR, $$, and greed.
Thanks for posting your experience. This is what I've been saying to people of Transcend regarding VR for a while now. Your statement about "strange as it may seem, VR picked up foreign accents better" was very interesting. When we think about it, it shouldn't really seem that strange because after all WE are teaching the VR system what the ESLs are saying. Every single time the system got it wrong, we had to replace it until the system actually "recognized" it on it's own and started typing it automatically. It wasn't the machine picking it up on it's own and doing well, it was the skill of the MTs constantly correcting the same thing over and over and over until the machine finally "got it". Once the MTs poured all their sweat and tears into correcting it, they were no longer needed as much on that account and were switched to others that needed the training. Slowly, but surely we became less valuable. Kind of like the production management team Transcend just let go.
I'm starting to see why so many new people are hired on at 10 cpl now, why the "policy" as far as raises had changed, and why the new direction for team leaders. If the plan had been to transition all accounts to VR all along, they wouldn't be able to get many people to accept new jobs by coming right out and telling them they were being hired for 5 or 6 cpl. They had to offer some sort of enticement. By making the new base rate higher and doing away with annual increases, they would save money realizing that the rates would be cut to 60% in the long run with editing. They must have realized that a lot of the people there for years who had started at 8 cpl or less would be upset with the changes and the problems - and would need to be replaced as they left. Just my opinion, but maybe this was also the reason for the cut-throat approach to promoting "get work while you can" when it's low and not taking an active role in remedying the situation. As long as they didn't have to come right out and say we need to cut back, the MLSs would do it on our own because we couldn't afford to wait for work to miraculously appear.
I'm quite confident, and actually know for a fact, that some who had been working there for a while were told of the team leader positions before they were even announced - otherwise how would I have gotten that inside information about the PMs that I had posted on the Forum before it was announced?. Also just my opinion, but what a convenient way to keep the "cheerleaders" who started at less than 10 cpl happy. Offer them an hourly position because the management knows for a fact they would never stick around for 5 or 6 cpl just editing if they are producing 400 lines per hour while typing. The rest of the MLSs would eventually get sick of scraping and clawing for work and would leave on their own. A whole new labor force with a whole fresh set of people not aware of the problems brewing just under the surface or even close to a clue of what will hit them in the future. A whole new work force that won't be eligible for raises for 3 years and most likely won't stay on anyway when they see what is going to happen.
Cece, you're living proof regarding what I had been saying about needing less people for VR in the long. Someone emailed me the other day and said that it was told to them by management that at this point 60% of the work will still need to be typed. I wonder what that percentage will be once the VR system is fully operational and running at peak performance, and the usual "slow times" roll around. If we thought it was cut-throat before, imagine it when only 10 people are needed to edit a huge account like the one BT started out with on ERs, which actually happened at Transcend. Now just imagine the quality of that work when people are scrambling to do as much as they can as fast as they can to supplement the 40% reduction in rate. Quality won't be as important as making their usual paycheck to pay their bills OR they will be hiring brand-spanking new MTs fresh out of school or new to at-home work that think they've won the lottery at 10 cpl. They won't be paying for quality, they'll be paying for quantity.
see? greed IS good. NM
x
Whatever. You obviously support greed,
n
Sure, factor it in, but no one knows what the future holds and MTSO has no control over those
:+
Agree. It' hard to use that as a rule-out factor nowadays.
Where you live doesn't factor in when you work with nationals.
When you work on-line, companies will pay the same regardless of whether you live in NYC or in some small town. I live in a small town and I am nearing $40,000 as an IC for 2 national companies. My pay is not based on where I live or my cost of living, rather on my production. I am paid 8 cpl, but because I use an Expander and can transcribe 250 lph, I make a decent wage.
This is only my third year as an MT and I have been with one of my companies for a year and a half and the other one for 8 months, so it doesn't take years and years. I did have to change jobs a few times though until I found the right companies and the right accounts that I could make money on. Some of the accounts I worked in the beginning had so many ESLs and the platforms were so slow that I knew I could never make any money there.
Mr. You-Lose-Ski is posterchild for GREED.
X
Greed is good? That is EXACTLY what capitalism
is all about. Make no mistake I am NOT defending certain MTSO's - I am simply pointing out to you that THIS (greed and corruption) is EXACTLY what you get with a capitalistic society.
This DOES NOT mean we have to give up freedoms, only that we have to demand Congress level the playing field - After all THEY gave the corporations the power and the rights they have... starting in the late 1800s
WHY ARE SO MANY WILLING TO just scream bloody murder at a system THEY support?
If you want do change things, roll up your sleeves and get to work, otherwise, give this company willing to PAY you for work a try - before you wish you had.
What you need personally to cover your bills should be the deciding factor. And what you MIGHT earn
m
It's called greed and most companies are starting to become
guilty of that. They are not the only one.
to make sure the accounts are over-covered -- greed
FN is so very greedy. Keep 'em over-covered for TAT. Keep the gals scraping for bits. They would rather have way too many MTs than have just enough. I see things have certainly not changed...
Corporate greed is driving it right out of existence
can afford to live in the United States and stay in MT. More & more of us are getting out. Some, like me, are trapped... been at it for too long (30+ years), and most of us are now what you would call the Working Poor. Back in my 20's when I came to that 'crossroads', I should've gone with my friend and learned court-reporting. So far their jobs haven't been teetering on the brink of extinction (yet), like ours are in MT.
That was a couple of years ago. Greed, India, not enough
QA, lies, lies, and more lies. They lost a couple of accounts and they lost a major account, what little was left wasn't much. I've heard L started another company and M is still her slave. Don't know any other details.
That was a couple of years ago. Greed, India, not enough
QA, lies, lies, and more lies. They lost a couple of accounts and then they lost a major account, what little was left wasn't much. Owners divorced. I've heard L started another company and M is still her slave. Don't know any other details.
Until about the last year it was a great place to work and it took a lot of adjusting going from gross lines to 65 lines.
hmm..be careful of your confidence among such greed... who will the team leader be?
nm
Yep, greed. The love of money is the root of all evil. NM
xx
The insurance cost is double for Transcend but insurance probably doesn't factor in for her.
I have heard more good things about Axolotl than Transcend, although it seems Axolotl may be less flexible with your schedule and someone told me that QA was pretty strict, which should not matter either if you have worked for a hospital and know what your QA score is.
Not unethical, when you factor in the unethical companies
She's just another MT trying to make a living like the rest of us. The old way of taking it 1 job at a time while you dump 4 fly-by-nights in order to find one that is honest and actually PAYS its MTs, can lead to lots of between-job time with no pay at all. MT has become a cutthroat business, and in order to stay in it, one has to sometimes turn the tables on these unscrupulous MTSOs. If EVERYONE did, you better believe they'd clean up their act pronto.
You can call it greed, I call it feeling like
I am back in the 80s with the money I am pulling in. SS, retirement check and my paycheck, cha-ching. Not planning on taking it with me, never. Love to travel and have 4 places planned for this year. High maintenance lady here. Ta-Ta.
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