How Student Labor Affects Wages on UGA’s Campus
As student workers are targeted to fill jobs at UGA, questions arise about the lack of outsourcing to fill roles on campus.
Over the past few years, University of Georgia student workers have become a growing force on campus. In departments like Transportation and Dining Services, students largely fill most positions and not by members of the Athens community where good jobs are hard to find. Critics believe that relying on student labor actively depresses wages, which ultimately hurts everyone.
“I think it keeps wages low if they have a supply of workers who are just looking for pocket change as opposed to a living then they’ll be more inclined to accept low wages,” said Joe Fu.
Joe Fu is with the United Campus Workers of Georgia and a professor at UGA. He said student interchangeability is vital to the University’s function, because it profits off part-time hires instead of hiring people full-time.
Although, Transportation and Parking Services Director Todd Bervin said the opposite. He says it’s because students are ideal for block shifts which last three hours. This goes for all departments, allowing for students to have a flexible work schedule to balance their class load, which is tempting to students looking for a college job.
Aaron Brown pulled student employment from the Career Center statistics calculated pre-covid, totalling 5,000 total on-campus. Students make up a majority of workers in the transit system, but in dining services it is more evenly split. Brown said there are multiple reasons why job marketing is aimed heavily to students on-campus and online.
“One is they bring a lot of energy to any department that hires. And, you know, they’re usually well versed in much of what the University has to offer. They have a lot of knowledge and can provide that really good customer service,” said Brown.
Basically, there is a mutual benefit for both students and the University. Students get experience to build resumes and the University fills a part-time, minimum wage role instead of outsourcing to hire full-time.
But Joe Fu sees the situation differently.
“You get younger people, inexperienced workers who are just thrilled to have a job. It’s a way of extracting a little more unpaid energy. They can frame it in that way but there is no substitute for someone with experience, who is a professional at the job and if they are well treated they can bring the same attitude with more return. Trying to find the group where you can get the most for the least,” said Fu.
Athens-Clarke County is one of the poorest counties in Georgia. Students like Catherine Slack wonder why the University doesn’t reach into the community for new hires to benefit local residents.
“I think they’re definitely looking to have the less desirable jobs filled by students, and that way they’re actively looking for bus drivers and things like that,” said Slack, “It gives students the opportunity to easily find work, but then also there’s a big homeless population here so it would, I think, help the community to look for workers in other ways.”
Fu agrees that the University should do more to support local workers who could bring more experience to the existing roles.
“It lets the institution give the illusion that it’s filling these roles with eager young people but i think there is a lot missing both in the performance of the jobs and supporting people who deserve to live with dignity and grace,” said Fu.
Very little public conversation about labor on campus takes place. Workers are often reluctant to speak to student journalists because of the risk of losing their position. The University stands by their aim to bring in a lively workforce, but the effects of depressed wages in the local community remain.
