Evening star., 1923-10-22
UNSK|LLED LABOR
MOST IN DEMAND
White Collar Workers Getting
Fewer Advances in Pay.
Jobs Harder to Find.
BY j. C. ROYLE.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK. October 81 The
worker with rough neck and
strong back seems sure of employ
ment at lucrative wages throughout
the entire winter. but the white
collar" men are facing a situation
which is growing Increasingly seri
Gus. Pay rolls of industrial plants
not only are being increased by ad-
ditional numbers of workers. but the
trend Of wages is upward in many
Tines. This applies particularly to
unsktlled labor, where the wage level
In most sections is higher than for
many months. THE best winter since
tho war is the way many industrial
authorities summarize the situation.
but nearly all make an exception of
the white collar jobs.
Office forces have been materially
reduced through more efficient man
2gcment and wage advances to clerks
have heen far less FREQUENT and of
smaller amounts than for the un-
skilled laborerS. Merchants are add
ing to their store forces in anticipa-
ton OF the rush of the holiday season.
Male Stenographers SoGght.
ne white collar men most sought
are competent male stenographers.
Inc fact that the limited opportu-
mites OF ite-Collar Job are being
recognized is Indicated by the report
of the college Of Industries of the
'drnegl" Institute of Technology
which shows that fully one-half of
thc LOO night students are taking
courses IN the building trades.
In" trend of wages upward was
cAemplified by the award of the Rail-
road Labor Board in ordering. wage
advances of and . cents an hour to
certain classes of employees of sixty
Hve railroads. and this advance has
hemefited the clerks and other white
collar men.
The demand for women. with the
exception of clerical workers, is
STRONG everywhere. Female factory
workers are in good demand at ex-
c"IIent wages and competent sales
women are eagerly sought. The call
Tor domestic help has exhausted all
available supplies and scrubwomen.
iaundresseS and cleaners are earning
higher proportiOnate wages than un-
Skilled man laborerS.
Strong CaII for Children.
There is also strong call for chill
dTen old enough to work under state
laws. In some sections of the north
west schools have been closed 10 al
harvest.
Closing OF the summer resort
season has brought surplus of
walters and mattresses into some of
the cities, but many will go south to
the winter resorts by the end of this
month. These winter jobs are at
fracting more and more the female
clerical workers and school teachers.
Now that the cotton crop in the
south has been made and much of it
gathered, the south feels that the
migration of negroes has not been an
unmiXed disaster. The negroes who
left in the spring and summer are
of q class which formed the bulk of
the idle population in the winter and
were considered as liabilities by their
employers for about five months of
the year. Their absence this winter
will counterbalance any losses their
leaving cost earlier.
Mexican Labor Sought.
The situation does not apply to the
cane fields of Louisiana, however.
Planters who are about to harvest
their sugar cane are preparing to inn
port 10000 Mexican laborers. 1
The demand for unskilled labor has
been SO great that turnover" has
become serious problem in many
sections.
Many classes of skilled labor now
are receiving as much per hour as
common laborers received for a ten
hour day ten years ago, according
to survey made by S. VI. Straus &;
Go. The following are some of the
schedules being paid: Br:cklayers. 81
TO $50 an hour; carpenters, IS cents
10 s125; plasterers. 81 to $3.50 an
hour; building laborers. up to S1.l0|
an hour; structural iron workers
- cents to $1.37la; plumbers, 80
cents to s1.50; fathers, 30 cents to
Sl.62 y electricians. 20 cents to SIPS;
stone cutters, 10 cents to $3.50. In
addition. many workers are receiv-
Ing bonus payments of 81 to 81 a
gay. The number of apprentices has
increased, but still is held to be far
TOO low.
Copyright 1921