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I've been an MT for 30 years. Our profession's problems go back well before the work at home boom. Thirty years ago our hospital bosses, the ARTs and RRAs, had no respect for what we did. According to them, anybody off the street who could type and use a dictionary could do the job. Oh, and any minute now there would be a machine the docs could talk into and perfect work would come out the other end. So sit down, shut up and type. Be grateful for any crumbs you might be thrown because at least you had a job. Even my brother, who worked for a railroad, had more sense than to think that what I did was typing pool stuff. He knew I spoke and understood doctor and said it with the same respect he'd use for someone who could speak Russian, German, Chinese or whatever. As a profession, we never did gain respect. Without respect, we never gained in pay. We've always been seen as a mommy track job, a good way to earn a little mad money. Being able to work at home made it worse. Out of sight, out of mind. You're not even a person anymore. There has been a shortage of MTs for some time, but even the vaunted law of supply and demand doesn't seem to apply to our industry. Back when, if there weren't enough engineers or teachers or whatever, you paid more to draw people into the field. That never happened with MT, and with offshoring, now it never will. If you don't respect workers, if you don't pay them well, if you don't offer decent benefits, you will not attract quality people. The best and the brightest have other options, and that is particularly so for women when compared to 30 years ago. If we don't have enough quality MTs, it certainly isn't solely the fault of MTs themselves. |
Profession in decline for years - Glory1863
