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COLUMN: The unrealistic promise of big money

Pay stated in online ads is far greater than for conventional jobs
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Plenty of online offers have the promises of making a lot of money for little effort by working from home. (John Arendt - Summerland Review)

If the online ads, social media posts and website comments are to be believed, there’s a quick, low-effort secret to financial success.

Each week there are plenty of online pitches promising $15,000 to $20,000 a month for what is described as “an easy online job from home.”

The offers also claim this is part-time income, working just a few hours a day.

The work is described as something anyone can do, without specialized skills.

The numbers do not seem realistic. Employers struggling to hire staff are increasing the pay they are offering, but this is a lot of money by any standard.

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Legitimate businesses hiring for entry level or unskilled work do not pay in the range of $200 or more an hour. British Columbia’s minimum wage is $15.65 an hour.

Skilled trades positions, which pay well above minimum wage, do not come anywhere close to the compensation offered for the work-from-home positions showing up online.

According to federal government figures, the median wage for a plumber in the Thompson Okanagan region of British Columbia is $31 an hour. For an electrician working in the same area, the median wage is $29 an hour and for an automobile mechanic, it is $25 an hour. These figures are from November, 2021 and are the most recent available. Trades jobs require training and would not be described as easy work.

Consider the compensation for other jobs.

The base salary for a member of the legislature is $115,045.93. Provincial cabinet ministers and the leader of the opposition make $172,586.90.

Premier John Horgan has a salary of $218,587.27.

An incentive program to bring new doctors to British Columbia offers a starting wage of $295,457 a year, as well as a signing bonus and a five-year loan forgiveness program. This is for highly skilled work. Doctors have a lengthy and difficult training program before they are able to practice in this province. Again, there is no way a doctor’s work could be described as an easy position anyone can do.

What’s left? Predatory pyramid plans and other quick-get-rich schemes entice people with the promise of a lot of money for little effort. However, such offers are not good. Those joining such programs must first make a payment and then try to recruit others.

For most, these jobs do not deliver on the promises. The only ones who actually make money in such schemes are the ones at the top of the pyramid.

The majority do not make money and may lose what they have paid out.

Besides, if such offers worked, one could expect to see friends and neighbours coping with a sudden influx of immense wealth.

It shouldn’t take much more than a brief logic check to write off these promises of big money as unrealistic.

Those who take the time to examine the claims and promises will reject these offers as ludicrous. Those who rush in blindly will stand to lose.

John Arendt is the editor of the Summerland Review.

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John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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