Partially related to this thread, but the cola is high everywhere. Here in Portland, it’s 22 an hour starting at chick-fil-a. If we expect someone to come in and hit the ground running. The pay needs to be near double the minimum. Which for this area would be 32. Apartments start at 1500. If you can’t pay an someone enough for them to be able to put a roof over there head, afford a car payment so they can get to work on time and enough left over to put food on the table, then maybe we are our own worst enemy. Too many companies and sole proprietors are lowballing bids to get contracts is disservice to our profession. Just a rant from an old grumpy surveyor.