July 7th, 2008 Julie Onofrio
What other profession hires employees and pays them minimum wage when they don’t have a (massage) client?
I was just thinking about that as I was writing my Ebook “Finding a Job in Massage” and talking to my massage therapist who works at a spa.
People who want jobs in massage just want to do massage and don’t want to be involved in marketing or running the business but there isn’t any way around it really. The massage they give and the service they provide as a massage employee can make or break the business. They are an essential part of the business yet they are only paid minimum wage or slightly higher when they aren’t giving a massage.
What other professions do that? Lawyers? Plumbers? Nurses? Physical Therapists? The closest comparison as far as job description would probably be Physical Therapists. But they can work on a few people an hour.
Massage is unique in that you can only see one person at a time? What is that worth?
Why do massage therapists put up with allowing an employer to pay them two different rates of pay? The only other profession I could think of was for hair salons or nail salons maybe.
The massage employer is thinking that they have to pay the massage employee less because they don’t have the money coming in without a client there - so that is the bottom line - who should bear the financial responsibility for that massage therapist not having a client? The massage therapist or the massage employee?
I personally think it should be the massage employers responsibility. If they can’t afford to pay the massage therapist the same rate of pay for down time they just need to make sure that there isn’t any down time. But why do massage therapists bear the responsibility? Does it increase the massage therapists interest in getting and keeping clients because they can make more if they have clients obviously? While I am sure everyone responds differently -do people who take jobs in massage really want to be doing those client building projects? I really doubt it unless they are just working until they can set up their own business.
And yes it does cost money to have an employee and get them clients which needs to be reflected in the price of the massage. How do you put value on what a massage therapist really does since they are physically limited in the number of massages that they can do in one week/month/year?
No wonder it is hard for massage therapists to get respect from the public and other healthcare providers!
As Dr Phil says “We teach people how to treat us”.
Posted in Massage Therapy Jobs | 1 Comment »
June 6th, 2008 Julie Onofrio
One of the most popular sections on my website is the massage therapy job center where people can get more information on how to find or create their ideal massage job.
I am also working on an Ebook on the same topic that will have much more information. One thing I am starting to see from interviewing massage therapists who go out and get jobs is that they just think of it as that - a job even though they love doing the massage part.
It seems that what you think about work and jobs is created at a very early age from watching parents or primary caretakers. We take on these beliefs about work without ever questioning them.
Jobs just like anything else really are a great learning environment to discover more about your unconscious unmet needs of childhood. We project our unmet needs on significant others and this also includes money and jobs.
One of the things that comes up often is the idea that people feel entitled to being taken care of in a job. They look for job security and think that just by showing up and doing what they are asked to do that they will find job security. Part of the problem becomes that you will start feeling resentful of what you are being asked to do unless you really love doing what it is that they ask you to do.
At a job you give up your own needs and aspirations to become a part of someone else’s dreams and aspirations. In order to feel whole people need to be connected to their own dreams and aspirations. Finding a place to work that you can share that dream is an important part of finding a massage therapy job but most people just take what they can find rather than finding what they want to take.
What do you want in a job in massage? Why do you want to work for someone else’s dream? What are your beliefs about work and finding a job? What do you expect from a massage employer?
Answering some of these questions will help give me more insights for my Ebook so please feel free to comment truthfully or email me if you don’t want to post things here.
Posted in Massage Therapy Jobs, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
June 3rd, 2008 Julie Onofrio
I’ll be the first one to admit, I don’t know a thing about unions. It seems that whenever the discussion comes around to whether or not there should be a massage therapy union, that there are plenty of emotions to go around and not much research or hard facts.
The problem is that many massage therapists are taking jobs that are less than ideal with low pay, long hours. no support systems and they end up feeling discouraged or even get injured on the job. Now that more places like Massage Envy and other massage franchises are opening up, it opens up more massage therapy jobs - but low paying jobs. I guess it also depends on your perspective and maybe age. Does $12-$15 an hour sound like a lot of money after working for minimum wage at fast food chain?
Unions have also been around for a long time and depending on your upbringing they may or may not have been a big part of your life. I personally was not around unions and don’t have much respect for them.
As far as creating a massage therapy union, we have yet to define massage professionally let alone be able to create various levels of achievement and skill to create a system of pay for union members.
What is lacking is education in the massage schools about finding a job or starting a massage business. Many are led to believe that there will be high paying jobs when they get out of school or just because they have good hands many think that their practices will automatically flourish the minute they open the door of their office.
Many massage therapists are not motivated to start a business as it requires having a business sense or the money to hire business people to run it. They just want a job where they can come and go and not worry about how they are going to get clients.
When I first started 20 years ago, there weren’t any massage therapy jobs -or hardly any. Most were just sub-contractor positions which means they were self employed anyway. With the average age of massage therapists being 45 years old, massage therapy jobs probably won’t be enough income for that age bracket.
Who is taking those low paying massage therapy jobs are people right out of school or younger massage therapists who choose to go to massage school soon after high school or college. Because their needs are less than that of a 45 year old as far as income goes for the most part, these people fit the massage job profile.
I would love to say that the golden rule when thinking about taking a massage therapy job is ‘Do not take a job that pays you less than you need to make or offers you less massages per week than you need to make a decent living. ‘ This is a big part of self care for massage professionals - having enough money to care for themselves and family which includes saving for retirement and taking nice vacations.
So do we need a union? I don’t think it would be possible or needed. But we do need some help in this area as a profession.
How else can we get this information out to massage professionals? Would our massage associations be able to take up some slack and provide more information and help for massage therapists in finding jobs or creating jobs?
Posted in Massage Therapy Jobs | 5 Comments »
April 8th, 2008 Julie Onofrio
When I first started doing massage back in 1987, no one really thought of trying to go out and find a job in massage. There just weren’t that many. Becoming a massage therapist meant that you started your own massage business right out of massage school.
The current salary statistics that I mentioned in an earlier post on the future of massage don’t make the massage profession look very appealing. One of the problems is that we don’t really have accurate statistics about massage jobs because there are so many massage therapists who do start their own practice.Today there are more and more places hiring massage therapists - Franchises like Massage Envy, Day spas, destination spas, hospitals, chiropractors, clinics, hospices, nursing homes, dentists, chair massage places. With more places hiring massage therapists, the more competitive the job markets.
I am also seeing a trend through my website www.massagetherapycareers.com of more high school students looking at massage therapy careers. The current average age of massage therapists is 45 according to ABMP and AMTA. With more younger people joining the work force they are taking the entry level jobs that pay $12-$15 an hour.
So what is the key to finding a massage job that pays $30-$45 an hour which is a fairly decent wage level?
People seem to be blindly searching for massage jobs out of fear and desperation rather than taking their time to figure out what it is that they want for themselves.
One of the things I recommend to massage therapists that are just starting out is to go to a variety of places and get a few massages there. Find out what it is like to work there by being a client there first.
What kind of place do you want to work at? A spa, chiropractors office or other clinical setting?What are the current employees like?
What is the atmosphere like?
Is this a place that you would like to work for?
After you know more about a place you can then set up informational interviews with the managers of the places that you would most like to work for. Ask them questions about the business so you can get more information about whether or not you want to work there or not.
Most people go about it the other way approaching places looking for a job and waiting to see if they get hired there without really knowing what they are getting into.
The other thing that massage therapists seem to forget is that even though they are going to work for someone else, they are the reason why people come back for more massages and refer all of their friends and keep the business going. You still have to have good customer service and marketing skills to educate clients as to why they should come more often. You also have to be able to tune into clients and find out what they really need. Spas are more difficult to work at in some ways because you only get one hour to make a connection with a person as many are only coming in for that one a year massage treat. All massage businesses depend on repeat clients and referrals and is mainly a result of how good the massage is, the connection between the massage therapist and client and the client getting their needs met.
I am in the process of writing a new ebook on finding a job in massage therapy. What challenges did you or are you having finding a job in massage? What things are you finding from working for a massage employer that you didn’t expect or do not like? What are you finding out about the massage job market and employers that you would want others to know so that they can look out for these things in an interview or informational process?
Posted in Massage Schools/Students, Massage Therapy Jobs, The Wealthy Massage Therapist | No Comments »
April 4th, 2008 Julie Onofrio
With so many concerns of the economic challenges that are being faced and will be faced with what does the future hold for the massage profession? As a massage therapist for the last 20 years and an avid participant in the many online groups and through contact with my many readers, I can see that most of the massage profession struggles to get by. (Maybe it’s just because you don’t hear as much about the successful stories. They are out there though, I am sure.)
ABMP reports in their metrics section at www.massagetherapy.com that :
Average massage-related income for massage therapists in 2005 was $18,950, with a median income of $14,500 (2005 ABMP Member Survey)
Total earnings by massage therapists, including their earnings from other employment, were $32,506 (2005 ABMP Member Survey).
First-year practice average income was $9,589, reflecting the challenges of establishing a professional-service practice (2005 ABMP Member Survey).
ABMP estimates some 50,000 massage therapists leave the profession each year.
The average age of ABMP members graduating in 2007 and entering the profession is 44. The median age is 45.
Close to 83 percent are women and 54.5 percent are married.
As massage therapists look for other ways of making a living they are choosing to take low paying jobs just to get by. Massage Envy was one of the top franchises last year and this I just found online so I am not sure how true it is “As of this month, Massage Envy, which was founded in 2002 and reported nearly $100 million in sales last year, has 120 locations and 248 more under development in 30 states.” They pay their employees $12-$15 an hour from what I have heard -plus tips.
They are choosing to accept insurance as payment or join discount insurance networks just to get by. I am a provider here in WA State and have been since about 2000 when they started allowing massage therapists to be contracted providers with insurance companies. When it first started there were a few companies who paid fairly well but some who paid poorly -(less than the average of $60 for a massage in the US). I have yet to see them raise their allowable fees and most are reducing what they pay and also the allowable benefits. Each year it gets less and less and gets harder to get paid. Managed care makes it harder to make a living.
Since the median age of massage therapists is 45 according to the recent ABMP survey, where does that leave massage therapists as they move into their retirement years? Most massage therapists are coming into the massage profession as a second or third career and thinking of it as a way to supplement retirement or slow down until they retire. They are seeking a more fulfilling career working with others.
And where are all the men in the profession? With low paying jobs how can men support their families? With men as a minority in the profession it shows that there are still many preconceived notions about touch. Women don’t want to be massaged by men and men don’t want to be massaged by men. With this challenge men are leaning away from the massage profession for better paying jobs where they are more accepted.
With such struggles along with the physical, mental and emotional demands of being a massage therapist, many see this as a part time profession. They also perceive it to be more of a calling than a way to make a living and lack a clearly defined business model. Is massage a hobby or a business?
I also have been receiving many communications through my website www.massagetherapycareers.com in the frequently asked questions section from high school students looking into careers in massage. They ask about what jobs pay and where can they get a massage but their main questions are things like “Do I have to take math or science classes?” which makes me think they are just looking for an easy career (which massage is not.) Since most massage schools are just looking to fill their classes they tend to make massage careers look glamorous and appealing. While in the past most massage therapists have started their own business, many more are now taking those low paying Massage Envy jobs which will be affecting the whole massage profession and changing it from one of healing, compassion and learning to just another job.
The massage profession also is in the midst of a big controversy over licensing and legislation issues. How much training and education is required to become a successful massage therapist? How is massage and medical massage defined? We have yet to define these things for ourselves so now insurance companies are doing it for us. (In WA State there is one insurance company creating a special massage credential that defines how much education is required for a massage therapist in their provider network.)
So what is in our future? How can we take more control of where we are going as a whole and not let the economy and money over-ride client/patient care?
The Future of Massage - Whitney Lowe
Posted in Building Your Practice, Health and healing, Licensing and Legislation, Massage Therapy Jobs, Starting Your Practice | No Comments »
