Apple farms having trouble hiring Americans.

[Raxe]

Same problem here, except we don't have any illegal immigrants so places are forced to run short-staffed instead.

[Wiglaf]

$120/day for 52 weeks is $31k. That is well above the median (~$25k I beleive?) and well out of poverty. Seems like good money for something that requires no education.. but what about the off season??

[mrsleeve]

$120/day for 52 weeks is $31k. That is well above the median (~$25k I beleive?) and well out of poverty. Seems like good money for something that requires no education.. but what about the off season??

go pick something else like lettuce where they grow shit all year, live on your savings

[HarryPotter]

I'd pick that shit for 120 dollars a day. I do hard ass work right now for 60...

[mrsleeve]

Yeah I used to work for 80-150 a day doing way harder work than apple picking for about 15 years(and will gladly go back to if I had too). I and many others do/did it, this is why I dont believe in the "jobs Americans wont do" bullshit. Just watch ol Mike Rowe and dirty jobs.............................

[Pac1373]

This is nothing new, hell Up here in NS the "Apple capital of Canada" they have to bring in A metric shit ton of migrants from Mexico and Jamaica.

our lazy POS population wouldn't CLIMB THE TREES! forced Farmers to create and re-plant ALL of the orchards with short trees, that don't need to be climbed, and STILL will be allowed to sit on their asses collecting EI, while we IMPORT PEOPLE to Pick produce.

it is the stupidest thing I have ever seen, also, median income in the region is something stupid low like $20k year or something, so it isn't like this is some huge step down.

it makes me a tad angry.

[joshh]

Couple things to consider here.
How many Americans to Mexicans/illegals are there in population density in rural areas? Mexicans/illegals are in far higher numbers in rural areas than they are in urban areas, we already know this.

According to that article, they have never had an American work for them. At least with the one guy that commented.
Americans in general have gotten used to not doing farm work at all because in part our farmers have had the luxury of hiring illegals for less than minimum wage for far too long.

This job in specific is one I would do without hesitation if I were close enough. Specially with the way the economy is. I'm not saying it's an easy one, but I've done jobs much tougher than walking up short ladders and picking apples then taking the sack and dumping them into a container. Specially for $120.00 a day and having little to no experience.
This is also a failure of our system. Capitalism is not what we currently have. We have a mixed system. In Capitalism, you don't pay people to not work (unemployment).
The failure is in this Governments role to keep this economy thriving and productive. Adding in more and more anti business legislation will never let an economy thrive. And giving people Unemployment as a way to "spark" the economy is proof of that failure. It's an unusual solution because of our failures otherwise.

[84driver]

Keep in mind that the $120/day is the top end of what the experienced workers make and inexperienced workers are unlikely to even make minimum wage. This is a tough laborious job with no benefits. No health coverage. What if you get injured and get no workers comp? Plus count in transportation costs to/from the farm. You can't just take a bus there. Plus, its seasonal. In comparison a guaranteed minimum wage job flipping burgers looks great. The apple pay is not competitive. I have worked on a farm and worked hard jobs for less than $120/day. But there are valid reasons Americans are looking for other jobs first.

[240zs30]

I too was wondering what farm in my area was paying 120 a day. Not likely. Probably not even close.

[bmwstephen]

I would've taken this job like a whore working for a dollar back when I was a tween if labor laws weren't such a prick. Honest to god I was broke and could use the money since my parent's couldn't afford to give me an adequate allowance. Instead, I sat at home and got fat and got into trouble here and there trying to fill the void of boredom as a kid.

[nando]

say whatever you want about mexican illegals and the trouble some cause, but the vast majority are the hardest working people you'll ever meet.

picking fruit, of any kind, sucks. I'm with farbin - how many of you have actually done farm work? It's not fun, or easy, and the pay stinks.

[240zs30]

say whatever you want about mexican illegals and the trouble some cause, but the vast majority are the hardest working people you'll ever meet.

picking fruit, of any kind, sucks. I'm with farbin - how many of you have actually done farm work? It's not fun, or easy, and the pay stinks.

^Truth.....

[joshh]

say whatever you want about mexican illegals and the trouble some cause, but the vast majority are the hardest working people you'll ever meet.

picking fruit, of any kind, sucks. I'm with farbin - how many of you have actually done farm work? It's not fun, or easy, and the pay stinks.

I agree with that for the most part. But if a country other than ours paid $25.00 an hour picking fruit and we lived in a fucked up country like Mexico, no wonder. Even less than minimum wage is good money to them.
Some of the guys I worked with doing construction in LA were very nice people. Even (one of them) offering me part of their lunch one day. But illegal is illegal.

[nando]

or maybe this is something you can agree with - our minimum wage laws are actually fucking us, and specifically, they're fucking over the young, unskilled, inexperienced workers who can't even enter the workforce because they aren't worth paying the min wage + taxes and benefits.

and - our immigration laws suck. I've been through the process. It really is easier to get here illegally, than it is to be legal. you get harassed way more, it takes forever, and it costs a fortune. We need to change that.

[E30Kaiser]

I actually looked to see if there were any applefarms near me to apply at after reading that lol. My cousins in Montana own a cherry orchard and the migrant workers that work there at harvest time are all hispanic and they just move from region to region picking whatever needs to be harvested.