Brian_dunbar wrote:

---

This is a questions for the old timers. I am 26 and have been cutting meat since 18. As of now I make roughly 19 an hour. Since the majority of us work in retail grocery stores in general, should I venture into store management or continue to cut meat in hopes of more money. I love my job and feel at my age I am doing okay but would also jump on an opportunity to earn more money

---

 Hi Brian,

  You said store management so I assume that is what you mean, not to be a meat department manager or as it is called in some parts of the country, "market manager".  

SO, I guess my answer is, "It depends". It depends on what you want, it depends on what the management opportunity is.  I was always a meat manager at each of the chains I worked for because I would have been bored otherwise.  I needed that extra challenge, stress, and pressure to pull me through the day, even though it only paid 70 cents an hour more than a journeyman.  However when I was asked to go into management I declined as I did not see it as a step up.  At the time (1988) I was making about $45,000/year as a meat mgr. and the company paid assistant managers $40k. I think I could have gotten them to give me the $45k but the other problem was that I worked 44 hours/week as a meat mgr and store managers and assistant managers worked 60 hours per week.  Also, I have posted here in the past about the company's very strict sanitation policies and inspections. It was company policy that if the store failed an inspection that the store manager and his two assistants lost their days off until the store passed and it could be 4 to 6 weeks before our inspector returned to re-inspect.  I declined and told them I did not think I was "committed enough" to take that step.

Your situation and your company may be different, but no matter how you slice it, retail is a brutal business that does not compensate its employees in any position commensurate with their skills and effort.  This isn't the company's fault.  It's a tough business with very narrow margins and labor cost is one of the most controllable expenses. If they cannot make a decent return on investment they cannot stay in business.  You're young so I urge you to look at other fields and consider them.  For starters, you might look at the site MikeRoweWorks.com to learn of other trades that pay much better.

Good luck in whatever you decide!

Jim

I say yes!  You can always go back to meat cutting if it doesn't work out.  The more you learn, the more you can pass on to others that want to move up as well.  It's a great feeling to see people grow.  Remember we don't get any younger and we butchers do feel it after years of cutting.  And speaking of age I'm sure this will come with some retirement benefits as well.

Good luck!

I know with my company if you are a qualified meat man you make the money. most of our managers make base 28.00 hour and we in the south.

Back in 2010 we had a story on the board about, Meat cutters who are paid $30 an hour now will make more than $31.   I just check on it but the paper has moved or took it down because of it being years ago I guess

31.00 a hour 5 years ago, makes me wonder what they knocking down now.

http://wbztv.com/local/stop.and.shop.2.1543002.html

I'm paid well and know my pay rate will go up with the years, I love my job, I don't think more money in another field could move me right now. I just wouldn't enjoy anything else, meat cutting is my thing

Jim all these cutters start in a chain store but learn all aspects of the trade and now make the big money

Jim most of those 12 to 15 hour cutters don't have many years in the business, you know in our trade you have to work your way up to the money, the union is about dead, they can't give every one the same money even when they not worth it, the union has even screw the meat cutters with their tier pay scale.  I have companies asking me to find them 15 to 20 year men that can start at 25.00  THAT'S the problem we don't have many of those kind anymore

Buying ones home in an area of extremely high home values is hard even if you not a meat cutter lol

if your trade does not pay enough to allow you to purchase your own home and provide for your family, that's a real problem,
I've never had this problem, the child support I've paid would make most meat cutters happy to have as a monthly check  lol

According to salary.com the medium income of meatcutters in the US is less than $34k/year! That is the issue I am speaking of.  THAT is why I say DON'T be a block cutter, educate yourself to be Artisan butcher and learn the big money. Those type of cutter jobs is like working in McDonald's to get experience and move on up to better jobs
   
I urge any and all cutters making less than $100k/year to move to those jobs that do, or consider changing careers to one that does. You owe it to your family.

This one where I tell them to stay, don't be part of a problem and RUN from it,  we owe it to our families to give them good meat Not **** cut and pre pack from out in the back of the mid west using almost slave labor. An a man owes it to his family to be happy in what he does, If he isn't happy how can the family be happy

An by the way brother Jim how many of those 100,000 dollar jobs in the last 6 years wish to hell they worked in a grocery store instead of standing in the welfare line

 Machinists earned median annual wages of $39,220 in May 2011, according to the BLS. Carpenters? median wages were $40,010; the top 10 percent earned $71,890. Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters earned median annual pay of $47,750; the middle 50 percent grossed between $36,050 and $64,790


Meat service is the third largest industry in the nation

Butcher / Meat Cutter/ Meat-cutting technicians, Salary Range  $28,163 - $63,120 with benefits

Meat & Poultry Specialist Supervisor, Salary Range   $100,000.00 - $140,000.00 with benefits

who report five to 10 years in this occupation see a much larger median of $28K. People with 10 to 20 years of experience make an average of about $31K in this role. Seasoned workers who boast more than two decades of relevant experience enjoy a median salary of $36K, which is substantially larger than the medians reported by folks with fewer years on their resumes.

What they fail to say is, choice of company and percentage of those making $65,000.00 a year

One example, Costco offers the best health insurance for Part Time/ Full Time employees in the retail industry. Not to mention, paid holidays, paid vacation.
http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Costco-Wholesale-Meat-Manager-Salaries-E2590_D_KO17,29.htm

Store Managers at the entry level start at $52k/yr. Mid level mgr $62k/yr to start

Putting a Costco Meat Manager against a Network Engineer that earns an average salary of $67,137 per year.

HEY JIM  we fixing to have a oovoo video chat next week, it wouldn't be right for you not to be there, you never have miss many chats lol  I'll post it sometime in the next few days

Leon,

Not sure I followed all of your post but I agree with you that if these artisan meatcutter positions exist and pay over $100k/year then that is where all journeymen should go.  I also agree that Costco pays very well, in both wages and benefits.  It was my understanding however that they were the exception, not the rule, but perhaps I'm mistaken.  I've been out of the the trade for 20 years so perhaps it has changed and I am out of touch.  If other chains like Kroger, Safeway, Food Lion, Pathmark, Acme, Albertsons, Super fresh, etc. are paying comparably then I'd say they are paying a fair wage and I stand corrected.

However I cannot agree that any cutter should stay in his position as an under-paid retail cutter just to provide good meat for family and consumers.  I have seen some chains including my own go to centralized cutting and many consumers went elsewhere.  In many cases some of these chains then brought cutting back into the stores.  This indicates a good opportunity to open your own shop, or work for one.

As to housing , when I got into the trade in the late 60's, all the meat managers and journeymen I worked with all ha nice hot cars and nice big homes in the suburbs.  It paid well back then.  I think the pay has really declined since but would be very happy to be shown to be mistaken about this, for the sake of my brethren in the trade.

Jim

Fred,

 Thanks for posting the links about these folks.  It looks like they are doing good work for our trade.  However I would not call them meat cutters but Entrepreneurs.  I'm glad they are out there.  They are folks that every cutter can aspire to follow in their footsteps. Still, for the majority who wish to practice their trade, work for someone else, get a steady paycheck every week I think one can do better in most any other trade.  The takeaway here is, IMO, if you want to stay in the trade, find a niche, take a risk, and open your own shop.  In my experience success does not come without risk taking.

Jim

fdarn wrote:

---

They are celebrity Butchers, Chefs or "personalities" or they are Culinary art teachers. They make TV appearances, get on radio talk shows and sell books and have their fingers in several different venues such as founding training camps and programs. They don't just strictly cut meat and go home at the end of the day. Ryan Farr is a chef and he founded a chain of restaurants. They travel all over the country and give speeches or demonstrations at seminars. If they can do it anyone can. You just have to have the determination and willingness to sacrifice your personal time until you reach your goals. Similar to how a surgeon might go to school for 12 years and work his/her ass off with the plan to only settle down and start a family and enjoy leisure time after he/she receives his/her doctorate.

Tom Mylan
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Mylan

Kari Underly
articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-19/features/ct-tribu-remarkable-underly-20120819_1_butcher-shop-meat-cutter-master-butchers

Adam Tiberio
www.thebutchersguild.org/tag/adam-tiberio/

Kate Hill
about.me/katehill

Ryan Farr
4505meats.com/index.php/4505-meats-story/

I have cut meat in both Michigan and Virginia and I can tell you they do not pay meat cutters of the last 20 years well. Only meat cutters who started before '95 are making good money. Any cutters after are usually making only a little more than a McDonalds clerk. This is not a respected trade anymore in my opinion. Maybe some states are still paying their cutters a respectful wage but i haven't seen or heard of it. I also think meat is becoming increasingly less popular to the consumer. They are just simply not buying as much of it anymore. It is not only due to the rising prices but also due to science finding that it benefits our health if we eat less meat. I don't know if that is true or not, but I believe that the public is starting to believe it. the meat case used to get the highest amount of traffic in any super market. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

---

I 100% agree Jim.  I am not sure that is a realistic approach for most of us, but if someone wants to make 100K per year working with meat these are the kinds of paths they would likely have to take.   Or maybe they can open their own market and after years of getting established in a good area where people have money to spend on quality meat year round, they can make that kind of income.   Otherwise we have to settle for below medium income if we want to stay in this trade.  

jimhenry2000 wrote:

---

Fred,

 Thanks for posting the links about these folks.  It looks like they are doing good work for our trade.  However I would not call them meat cutters but Entrepreneurs.  I'm glad they are out there.  They are folks that every cutter can aspire to follow in their footsteps. Still, for the majority who wish to practice their trade, work for someone else, get a steady paycheck every week I think one can do better in most any other trade.  The takeaway here is, IMO, if you want to stay in the trade, find a niche, take a risk, and open your own shop.  In my experience success does not come without risk taking.

Jim