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I noticed that a 50-something man across the street is working as a checkout person at a food store which I frequent.  The workers are unionized and the chain grocery store is owned by an international retailer.  Surely, I thought, he must be getting paid decently.

Nope.  I found out he makes $11 an hour  ($12 on weekends and holidays).  On July 1st, minimum wage goes up to $12.25/hour where I live.   2,000 hours x $12.25 is $24,500. 

Minimum wage is 1/2 the median earnings for a male, full-time worker, which is $49,660 (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/wkyeng.t01.htm).

He has an MS degree. I don't know what happened to him and I don't think I want to find out.

First of all, Unix is right. Labor rates are based on the market, not on what your position or experience in life was before you took the job.

To ID's points:

Of course, this man is at a low ebb in his life and career that most likely he won't ever escape from. And he has a master's degree.

You probably brought this up as a signpost or indicator that the labor market is so f***ed today that many capable professionals and older individuals simply cant' find suitable work. They have to settle for jobs that someone with no education and very low cognitive abilities can perform.

Maybe I am at even a lower rung than this guy, because I'm in that age bracket and I absolutely refuse to consider employment with dunces. So maybe I am cutting my nose off despite my own face.

Anyway -

Horror stories like this are constructive if they help you in that area of life somehow. We have no idea how this man got to this place in his life, what mistakes he made, what he did wrong, what he attempted and got shot down trying to accomplish. 

Since this guy is a cipher, all you're doing is posting a sob story of sorts that has no takeaways or warnings.

Given that a healthy vibrant economy should somehow provide near-suitable employment for someone with demonstrated competency, all we can do is hypothesize what could have lead him here:

- Disability with regard to attentional stuff - not being able to focus on high level tasks. (or other type of disability.)
- Washed out of IT due to age (the obvious issue for us on this board to discuss)
- Legal status (sexual offender, white collar crime, etc) - something that would cause rejection for professional employment.

Or kind of self created:

- Arrogant old fart who has high IQ tendencies, therefore he doesn't take new trends in his profession seriously. I read recently that the overly intelligent tend to race to conclusions and not factor in paradigm shifts.

- Lack of imagination and tunnel vision. The problem of most of us in this age group.

- Low self esteem.

- The unwillingness to just try something even though it seems unproductive.

- The unwillingness to learn.

- Willful lack of engagement, laziness and/or stupidity.

What is his MSc in?   Is it related to technology or is it something else?

A base MSc in only useful right after you complete your degree.   You have to keep up to date with the latest information in whatever the degree specialty is.   You have to be able to show significant expertise that can only be gained through experience after the degree.   Otherwise, there is no reason to hire a more experience/more expensive person over a rookie.

And there is the attitude issue.   If the person has a defeatist attitude, they are finished.   You have to be positive and believe in yourself in order to keep active in whatever field you are in.   That could be the issue with your neighbor.

I was at this suchi place here and overheard a conversation - "I cannot find anyone to hire for $9/hour". And that was several years ago. The cost of living is insane around here, this ain't Ohio or Western Virginia. So 11/hour is like min-wage. But that how it has always been.

There is a large pool of Elbonias to draw from.  I don't know if that's the definitive factor but one of them.

Of course, this man is at a low ebb in his life and career that most likely he won't ever escape from. And he has a master's degree.

You probably brought this up as a signpost or indicator that the labor market is so f***ed today that many capable professionals and older individuals simply cant' find suitable work. They have to settle for jobs that someone with no education and very low cognitive abilities can perform.

Maybe I am at even a lower rung than this guy, because I'm in that age bracket and I absolutely refuse to consider employment with dunces. So maybe I am cutting my nose off despite my own face.

Anyway -

Horror stories like this are constructive if they help you in that area of life somehow. We have no idea how this man got to this place in his life, what mistakes he made, what he did wrong, what he attempted and got shot down trying to accomplish. 

Since this guy is a cipher, all you're doing is posting a sob story of sorts that has no takeaways or warnings.

Given that a healthy vibrant economy should somehow provide near-suitable employment for someone with demonstrated competency, all we can do is hypothesize what could have lead him here:

- Disability with regard to attentional stuff - not being able to focus on high level tasks. (or other type of disability.)
- Washed out of IT due to age (the obvious issue for us on this board to discuss)
- Legal status (sexual offender, white collar crime, etc) - something that would cause rejection for professional employment.

Or kind of self created:

- Arrogant old fart who has high IQ tendencies, therefore he doesn't take new trends in his profession seriously. I read recently that the overly intelligent tend to race to conclusions and not factor in paradigm shifts.

- Lack of imagination and tunnel vision. The problem of most of us in this age group.

- Low self esteem.

- The unwillingness to just try something even though it seems unproductive.

- The unwillingness to learn.

- Willful lack of engagement, laziness and/or stupidity.

He seems like a genuinely ok guy.  His house is a shining example in the neighborhood and he's always going out of his way to help neighbors.  But who know's what's going on inside someone's head.

My bet is something along the lines of negative self image.  He's been out of the workforce for at least 10+ years and he's in his 50s, so the headwinds probably seem insurmountable. He's not sitting on a pile of cash because he's working because he has to.

I used to see this poster on the walls at work.  Suppose there's truth to it:

I used to see this poster on the walls at work.  Suppose there's truth to it:

This is more to the point than your marcomm motivational poster. This is 100% true:

The one I posted is a quote from Henry Ford. Besides being a notable Hitler supporter  he wrote that quote.

It's completely true and you can't escape the facts.

If you think you can do something, you will be likely to find a way to do it.

If you believe you can't do something, you most likely won't ever even start.

If you guys see every constructive summary of human nature to be a marketing-communication or HR platitude, then y'all are lost.

I'm Mr Cynical Negative Boil-the-World-in-Satan's-Deep-Fryer-Oil and I know that attitude is EVERYTHING even if you want to dismiss  the idea as rah rah.

Of course the motivational stuff can't help the guy. Otherwise he  wouldn't be bagging groceries at this point in his life.