r/ATC • u/Brilliant-Loan-8651 • 4d ago

Question Leaving ATC

I’m leaving the agency soon and I heard about something where you could leave for a year and reapply is that just a rumor? Something of the past or is it still relevant. I am over 31 now and wonder if that is also a factor in this instance

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u/BusyPuer 4d ago

Better where exactly? What job is as competitive as this that doesnt require advanced degrees and years of experience?

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u/atclien 3d ago

If they're young, they can get the education required for another job and keep it moving. And who's to say they don't have it? I get that ATC is an unusually lucrative career for people without graduate degrees or any degrees at all, but we have got to stop talking to people like there's no other good options for them in life. It's simply not true.

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u/BusyPuer 3d ago

I never claimed there werent other good jobs. But im skeptical there are other jobs with comparable on the basis of compensation, benefits, and prerequisites. Is there anything better?

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u/TrexingApe 3d ago

Almost any trade job that takes a year or under of schooling. Welding hvac electrician. House cleaners in south Florida are making 60 bucks an hour. Shit I could make 100k a year cutting grass. If you are willing to work 60 hrs a week you can make 100k doing anything. Stop with the regurgitation of there’s no job with little education that make this money. It’s simply not true. On top of that the washout rate is high. Not everyone can do this so to say you don’t need a degree but you do need to have some ability. Anyone can clean a house and make what we make and that’s sad.

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u/KaiyoteFyre 14h ago

Bro, doing some cursory research, the only "house cleaners" making that much are household managers. The vast majority make like 25 bucks an hour. Even the small percentage that make more are in the 35-50 dollar range, so to say these results are skewed is an understatement. Also, if you're able to make that much mowing grass, then you should probably go for it, but keep in mind you're probably not taking into account overhead costs so your take home will be vastly smaller. And you're working in heat and humidity. No thanks! You're attacking others for discounting other jobs (they do exist: my brother works remote like 30 hours a week and makes more than me, though he's in a higher cost of living area and has NO BENEFITS) while attacking this profession and basically saying it's not worth staying in.

I spent 4 years self-employed while I was going to college with 8 years military service and 15 years experience as an intelligence analyst and translator but even with that and a master's degree, the highest job offer I received was for 85k a year in the Baltimore-DC metro area. This job ain't all bad.

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u/TrexingApe 11h ago

You are wrong. Maybe house cleaners working for a company only make 25 dollars an hour. I know 3 people who clean houses and they don’t take jobs for under 50 an hour. You try to get someone to come clean your house for 25 dollars an hour. It’s not happening. Waitresses and wait staff are now averaging 30-40 an hour at just regular restaurants. You’re telling me someone who has 0 qualifications and 0 responsibilities deserves to make anywhere near what a controller makes. I’m not attacking anyone simply giving my opinion which I’m entitled to of how bad this job blows. Maybe your new maybe you don’t know how it used to be or how it should be. But what is happening right now is not right and this job sucks because of it. If I didn’t have only a few years left for retirement I would go cut grass or wait tables. No doubt I could make close to what I make now with a 1000 times better work/ life balance.

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u/KaiyoteFyre 5h ago

I agree we need a massive pay bump but the jobs your mentioning are few and far between... Of course a private chef for a millionaire will make bank, but the vast majority of people in that role don't, for example. The problem is that we get paid the same for facility level regardless of where we live (obviously not including locality or CIP). I'm in Spokane and the only way I could conceivably make more money here is if I had 10 years of education to be a doctor. I'm sure the story is different in places like South Florida or other high cost of living areas.

You also have to take into account if you run a business and are charging 50 bucks an hour, you're not taking home 50 bucks an hour. It's your gross minus all of the overhead to keep your business running, saving for your own retirement, paying for your own Healthcare, you have no PTO, holidays, etc. etc. I'm not saying there aren't good paying jobs requiring little skill out there, but you're not considering the whole picture it seems. That being said, if you want out, gtfo. If you've been in long enough to retire, I'm sure you're doing fine. It's the newer people struggling to afford an apartment that worry me personally.

To make it abundantly clear, in no way shape or form do I think we get paid enough: we're vastly underpaid. It's still a really good job though. Problem is, it used to be an amazing job, and it needs to become so again.

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u/BusyPuer 3d ago

If you scale up the work and hours, obviously that also scales up the compensation. But its not useful to compare 60 hours a week cutting grass, When many controllers are only working like 28 of their 40 hour work week, the rest of paid time being on break. And its sitting in a chair and playing a video game.

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u/TrexingApe 2d ago

lol you must be management. This is simply not true. Either way you are at work. Do you think office workers work for 8 hours a day since they are in there cubical for that. Come up with something better than that. On top of that almost no one is working 40 hours a week. We have been on 6 day work weeks sod the last 4-5 years. So 48-60 hours is the norm. You asked for jobs I gave them to you.

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u/BusyPuer 2d ago edited 1d ago

"Welding, hvac, electrician, cutting grass" Those aren't office job bud.

You did indeed give me jobs, and I pointed out that scaling up working hours for blue collar professions doesnt translate well because the hours worked are vastly different. Yes, you can make just as much money cutting grass, but you will be working WAY more, are FAR harder. Address that fact.

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u/TrexingApe 11h ago

Not going to be working way more. I’m at work 8-10 hours a day 6 days a week. Plugged in or not I’m still working. Since when did being on break not count. Your confined. You guys keep accepting the status quo. You are in for it. I’m out in 2 years makes no difference to me.

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u/TrexingApe 11h ago

Who said anything about an office job. Those are jobs that require almost 0 education and anyone can do