THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 10, 1995 TAG: 9502100469
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
If you're looking for a high-paying job, Hampton Roads is not the place to be.
A job that averages $50,000 nationally would pay $50,500 a year in Atlanta, but would bring in just $46,700 in Hampton Roads, according to a survey released this week by William M. Mercer Inc., a human-resource consulting firm.
``That's not much of a $50,000 job, is it?'' said David Garraty, economics professor at Virginia Wesleyan College.
The survey showed that in each pay category analyzed - from $20,000 up to $50,000 - jobs in the Norfolk metropolitan area pay 6-8 percent less than the national average. That's grim news for Hampton Roads residents who want to get the most money for their skills, but it can be an enticing plum for economic development officials trying to recruit companies from other metropolitan areas.
``It commands a lot of interest,'' said Ann Baldwin, director of research for Forward Hampton Roads, the economic development arm of the Chamber of Commerce.
In using the pay differential figures, though, Hampton Roads' recruiters have to be careful not to encourage more wage repression, she said.
``We do not stress that we have low wages - we stress that we want liveable wages,'' Baldwin said. ``But in the scheme of things, labor cost is important.''
The reason for Hampton Roads' lower wages is the large military presence here, most experts agree. Employers can keep wages low because of two factors attributable to the military: a spouse whose husband or wife is stationed here can't move elsewhere for a better job; and military retirees already have a pension coming in and can afford to work for less.
``There's a surplus supply of people who are connected to other people who are geographically immobile,'' said Ann Schwarz-Miller, a labor market economist at Old Dominion University. ``In other words, they're not free to move somewhere where the wages are higher.''
The study did not consider cost-of-living differences among the cities. In comparisons with some cities, that may explain Hampton Roads' lower pay; in other comparisons, it probably wouldn't.
A person making $46,700 at a ``$50,000 job'' in Hampton Roads, for instance, would likely lose out in taking the same job in Washington for $52,250. But it might be worth moving to Richmond - which is right at the national average - for another $3,000 a year.
``I don't think we're particularly a low cost-of-living area,'' Garraty said. ``I think we're probably about average, which means we're in fact low on the wage scale.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
STAFF
DIFFERENT PLACE, DIFFERENT PAY
How average salary compensation differs in several cities across the
United States.
SOURCE: William M. Mercer, Inc.
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB