Was an entrepreneur before trading. One of the hardest things I've ever done. If you've never signed the front of a paycheck, know that every time someone hires another person they're taking a risk. I've had employees who've been incompetent, lazy, catty and worst of all deceitful. And it doesn't matter what you pay them or offer in benefits; you've got to hard the whole time. Secondly, because of above, many people don't add headcount unless they have too, otherwise they look for efficiencies. There's just too many taxes, costs and regulations that go into every hire. The economy is still in the toilet, and will remain that way until we get the government under control. But be forewarned, even if we cut taxes and regulations, jobs won't immediately appear. It just makes things much easier for the private sector.
Being an employer is hard. Every time you hire someone for say $50,000 per year, that person needs to make the company at least >$60,000 for the company to break even due to taxes, worker comp, unemployment, etc. I've seen a lot of small businesses struggling out there, barely treading above water. The sales are not there. Lack of demand. People are trying to save and pay down debt. This is the downside to a country that went on a credit binge for too long.
It is not easy to get more than 2 signatures an hour, no matter how hard you try. I have experience with these kind of menial wage jobs. You can't refute truth http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=224212
Who's happier to have a job and health insurance? It's a blessing to go from mac n cheese to steak for some people.
the US is bankrupt from an accounting point of view.it's liabilities are overwhelming its assets. like a large corporation which is bankrupt it does not mean that it has to stop operating immediately. as long as no one who has chits doesn't force the issue life goes on. in case of government the currency eventually becomes worthless and it ceases to function. same as in argentina in bygone days or in greece government workers are vastly overpaid compared to the private sector.it is ridiculous that the highest paid workers in many town in the US are postal workers, school teachers and the police. if the government sector is small you can get a way with it. the bottom line the USA seems to have reached the tipping point. Obama is looking to protect his constituency government workers and big union workers and the do nothing poor. is there a way out? yes make America a capitalist country again. declare bankruptcy. fire 50% of government workers renege/renegotiate their outlandish pensions. then make a simple tax system to be filled out on a post card, not a 10,000 page monstrosity. reduce or eliminate profession licensing requirements. will it happen? only if there is tremendous suffering first and the currency becomes near worthless. then maybe the rules of the game change. Unlike brazil the US is not blessed with vast unexploited natural resources and little legacy costs (pension promises) the US government may be able to fool the american people in general but not the overburdened business class or foreign holders of US debt. lots of luck America.
I did this exact job back in 1993 or 1994. I was paid 50 cents per signature, and $1 to get people to register as a certain political party(I cant remember which party, but I know it was a small unheard of party) I collected about 20 to 25 signatures per hour, but I walked up and talked to every person that came in and out of the store. The key was I did it with a friend and we would compete with each other to really hustle. The only bad thing was places would try to run you off, or just cause problems that made it hard to work. Customers would also complain a bit to the store of our aggressiveness. Target even had a sign made and put it outside next to us that said "If you want these people to go away, dont sign their petitions" Target was a gold mine I remember to get signatures. I tried alot of other stores that were more friendly to let me stand outside like petsmart, but the rule seemed to be that the more they didnt want you there, the more signatures you would get.
They were signing up to stop taxes on the internet and I dont remember what the other two were for, but I know it was for something good. Usually these people try to get so many hundred thousands of signatures just to get it on the ballot so we can vote on it when voting season comes along. So signing is no big deal...because it doesnt pass until the people vote.