Commenter1 Writes:
"Studio managers do the best they can...their jobs are threatend almost daily, they work single coverage, don't get days off as scheduled, and they often work 12-14 hour days this time of year. As much as it sucks, this is one of the few jobs where you can make a decent hourly wage without a college degree."Commenter2:
"Im asst. Manager and dont make enough money to put up with the crap that goes on. Its not a decent wage at all. Especially since we do go thru all the things u listed.... plus LOADS more."Commenter3:
"$18.00 per hour in my neck of the woods is a decent wage."Ok, all caught up? Good. This is actually the first I found out that studio managers make this much money. Any job seeker can tell you that this is, in fact, darn good money. One thing to consider though, however, is the fact that, at least in my neck of the woods, studio managers aren't working 40 hours a week. Mine worked 32 (not counting hours worked off the clock), which nets you the same money that working 40 hours at $14.40 would.
I made $11.00 as assistant manager and, like Commenter2, I had to put up with a lot of stuff to get that $11. Like all people that work 40/hr a week jobs, I worked 5 days a week (actually, more like 7. See any post from the your time is not your own series). Yet I was only getting 30 hours a week. Even if I got called in on Sunday to do an open to close, they'd counteract that my making my other shifts worthless 4 hour shifts to keep me around 30 hours. So it was pretty consistent. I think unless you're an unfortunate person that is going it alone, you're only getting 30/hrs a week.
And now let's talk take home money. If I make $11/hr for 30 hours a week, I make the same money as someone who makes $8.25 an hour working 40 hours. That's just not a lot to live on. I'm currenly working a job where I make $10 an hour and not only work regular 9-6 hours, but am able keep work out of my non-work times. I love being appreciated, having job security day to day, and being respected. If you ask me, that's the best wage of all.
What do/did you make at Sears Portrait Studio or Picture Me? How many hours to you get? Is it worth it? See you in the comments. And keep those submissions coming.
edit:
Commenter4:
"i Make $9.50 an hour.... Where do u live that Asst. Managers make $18an hour?! I have a $175 PRS.... very consistantly for MONTHS, and i still make $9.50 an hour".
That's the last comment I'll post in the actual entry. Check the comments for further discussion.
Posts
22 comments:
Also, yeah, I know that there's a lot of studio managers out there that are doing the best they can with the hand they've been dealt. I just want to make sure that it's clear that this post isn't trying to say that all studio managers are idiots or anything like that.
Im still wondering why im only making $9.50 and there are others making $11 or $18 an hour.
I work an average of 33hrs per week.... but last week i had 43Hrs because of Christmas coming.
I'm a studio manager and I make $12/hr and work about 45 hours a week. My DM has no problem with me getting OT as long as my labor % is in range.
Where do you live that you are making $18 an hr for an asst manager? I would love to know. I am an asst manager and I am only making $12, and I had to fight tooth & nail to get to that. Granted right now I love this time of the year cause I am getting a ton of overtime, I think last week I left Friday night and I had 62hrs for the week.
Pretty sure the $18 quoted rate was referring to a studio manager.
Geez... everybody calm down! Here are the facts:
- I was making $18.00 per hour, not including bonus/incentives
- I managed a super high volume studio.
- I was with SPS for nearly 15 yrs.
- I am from Texas.
I was in the midwest when I was with SPS and when I was first interviewed, I was told the starting pay for the Manager position was $9.00 per hour. I thought that was insane. That is not management pay. You can work at a bank as a teller and make $11 per hour (with no college degree). I have a college degree plus many years experience. I told them the lowest I could accept was $13 and they hired me on at that. The first Christmas I worked, I did not have a day off between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I had some serious overtime. My DM tried to make that a positive thing, but I was in such hell and so unhappy, the time I could have had off would have meant more to me than the extra money. I didn't even put up a tree that year. I was driving down the road in the snow one night and I was thinking, "gee, if I slid off the road right now and ended up in the hospital, I wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow." Not the healthiest thoughts to be having, right?! After Christmas that year, our district became extremely rigid about overtime. There was a report that came out every week and if you went into overtime, you were in big trouble. I left almost 2 years ago now, though, so I don't know if they've loosened up on overtime.
$18 sounds decent, but not necessarily if people being hired now are making $12-$15. Someone with that longevity should probably be making over $20 in comparison. But SPS is finding a way to lay off people with longevity so that they can get out of paying so much.
This is my first Christmas not working for SPS.I never knew what a joyous time of year this could be...or perhaps I had forgotten. I too had stopped putting up a tree and hanging up stockings for my kids. Actually, I began to feel physically ill about the holidays around the middle of July. How sad is that?
This is my first Christmas not in the portrait studio. I make a dollar less than what I was making there, but I'm so much happier, less stressed, and I actually put on a little weight so I don't look as sick and run-down anymore. :)
I know of a studio manager who has been with SPS for 17 years and was told that she hit the maximum pay rate for studio managers at $16 an hour...and that was years ago. There have been no adjustments for inflation, NOTHING to reflect her continued loyalty to the company.
And now, after 17 years of service, she is being made to feel bad about getting surgery on the ulcers that this job has given her, to the point that the district manager has made her CRY on several occasions.
This company sucks.
we received an email from the DM stating that a nearby studio was without a manager and in need of help. the DM said i have the final say in raises and helping this studio will help you. thats great so im already taking time to help a studio in need working 6 days a week 10 to 14 hour days without breaks and i have to stretch myself thinner to hope for a raise?
you know aldi's (a discount grocery store) is hiring checkers at 11.25 to START. and thats at at least 30 hours a week. hmmmm i could sit all day (cause they have chairs at checkout) go beep beep beep and make about a dollar more an hour
Don't count on a great raise. No matter how much extra you do. You will wind up disappointed. They will make some excuse even if you've killed yourself for the company.
A raise? Are you kidding me? Have you looked at CPI stock lately? Last I looked it was $1.12-and this is the time of year when the company normally is making bank. They are borrowing money to make payroll as we speak. CPI is in a death spiral and headed for bankruptcy...you folks still employed at SPS need to be getting your "Plan B" together now. Seriously. Try to have a happy Thanksgiving anyway.
I make $8 an hour and have been with the company almost a year now. I'm a five star photographer and my prs has never dropped below 115. I've been falsley promised the Assistant manager as well as an M.I.T position many times and my DM refuses to give me a number on what I will be making if I do get those positions.
The only reason I havent quit is because I can't find any other place that starts off higher than minimum wage - or that is hiring, for that matter.
Times are tough and a lot of people are out of work. It is rough out there. If you are making $8 now, I suspect the most you would go to as Asst would be $9, but it depends on what your manager makes, what the studio does/volume is etc.
Wow. An assistant manager making $18/hr. I'm a studio manager that makes just over $12 an hour.
HOLY CRAP! I only make 10 an hour and I AM THE STUDIO MANAGER! I am the Lowest paid manager in my district...probably the territory.
I'm moving to their neck of the woods!
I am a studio manager in Texas and I make 10.78. hen I was going over goal every day back when it was Christmas and Easter and making the company tons of money, they LOVED me. Now that it is kind of a slow time of year and business has slowed a little I feel like my job is threatened daily. This is the worst company I have EVER worked for. Raises are a joke. All the other managers in my district make $9 and the only reason I make more was that i literally had to threaten to quit for 6 months before they gave me my manager raise and then they had to give me retroactive pay for 6 months! CPI sucks.
I have been reading all your post and all I hear is complaining about how much money you make on the hour. I am a studio manager and I have been with the company for 5 years now. I will not discuss how much I make what I will say is that I know I make more than some but less than others. If all you can think about is how much money you aren't making then you should really quit your job. For me this isn't just a job it is my passion. I know I could go to another company and make more money however I like my DM and I love what I do so the money isn't that important to me. This is how it should be for anyone in the career choice we have all made. Oh yes this is a choice. Any one of you who spend your days whinning and complaining about your job... "its to hard for what I get paid".."this isn't worth what I get paid".. take the CHOICE to leave. My studio's sales average as well as my own personal sales average is one of the top 10 in the company. Not because I am paid more but because I LOVE what I do. I work extra hours off the clock at my own choice because I love what I do and I have things to get done. I dont get ulsers when Im stressed about work because I dont get stressed as long as I can honestly say I am doing my best. If your job sucks maybe you should take a long hard look at yourself instead of blaming the company you work for. Maybe its not the job for you. Every company puts a cap on how much a certian position can make. If any studio manager wants to make more than the cap then they should work hard to get the DM position. Promotion is how you get over the cap. This is not just CPI this is every company. Without a cap on wages an associate could stay with the company as an associate and end up making more than their manager. This is the reason for the cap on wages for each position, to prevent the lower level from making more than their boss. It's an incentive to push towards promotion. If you dont like that then open your own business and watch you wages get out of control and listen to your management staff lose their minds when they find out the lower levels are making more than they are. As for some managers making more than others its all about the level of studio each manager works in. Higher volume studios pay more than lower volume studios. As we all know your wages come out of the individual studio budget. Therefor a studio that brings in $350,000 a year will be able to afford to pay their staff more than a studio that only brings in $150,000 a year. If you want to make more as a manager than you currently do, provided you haven't hit the cap, either transfer to a higher volume studio or increase your sales to match a high volume studio. it all comes back to you the individual, not the company. The company has ways to increase your pay you just have to be willing to work for it.
I work at CPI right now and I too have been threatened so many times with being fired. I actually had a DM tell me that there is always a reason to let anyone go in a minutes notice. I run a PRS in the 100'S consistently but because of the economy and loss of customers I am always"on the edge". When the DM comes in acting like they are your friend and "on your side" thats the time to feel for the knife in your back.
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