A department of sanitation worker puts a tent into a garbage truck after it was removed from an encampment of homeless people on East 9th Street in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., April 6, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
(New York, NY) – A debate has been sparked on social media following a viral post on Reddit. The post comes from the community r/Salary, a Reddit page where users can share their incomes and exchange advice on wage negotiations. The post is a screenshot of the yearly gross income of a garbage man who at the end of 2024 earned $139,841.90. The actual Reddit post is from a year ago, however it regained traction after being posted on X or Twitter. User “crypto messiah” shared the post Tuesday and people are still engaging with the post that has over 8 million views. The original poster has been claiming that people tend to write-off blue collar trades, yet those are the jobs that pay more than roles like school teacher. Many in the replies are validating the need for the high salary, with many pointing to occupational hazards and back-breaking labor. Some posters go further that sanitation workers should be making even more. This as Generation Z continues more and more to forego the typical four-year college to professional pipeline. In the first quarter of 2024, the Department of Labor found workers 18-25 years made up 18% of the workforce, but 25% of all new hires in skilled professional trades.
