This booming economy is killing us.

Biggest thing ive seen with where i work durring the summers doing precast concrete. Is that so many people arent willing to learn. Also their coworkers arent willing to show them how to do things instead just make them do very basic tasks like sweep and tie steal. There for we cant keep people. Another thing is the new guys arent willing to put the effort in and work through the first two weeks and get use to the hours.

I try anytime im having to help out in the production areas to show and teach the new guys how to do things. Ive notice it upsets the older guys when i do that but it helps them get done faster and more efficient in the long run.

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At the end of last summer, when the kids went back to school, I decided that I'd grab a part time job for some extra cash. Because I have to be able to pick my kids up from school, that means I have to be off work by 2:00 in the afternoon, so retail jobs are what I looked for. The hiring manager at Dollar General laughed in my interview, "So let me get this straight.... you have a Bachelors Degree from Michigan State in Advertising and Marketing, you have management experience from big box stores, you have worked as a consultant for a big 5 accounting firm and now you want a minimum wage job at a dollar store?"

"Yes. You are the only place that called me back. When can I start?"

Do I like it? Not really. But the store is close enough that I can be there in about 5 minutes and once I leave, I leave. I don't have to worry about where my next sale will be from, or if my client will like my proposal, etc.
 
Finding good help for the same price is getting harder. We’re paying more for the same level of work. We’re also up another 16% over this time last year.

Everyone I talk to, especially my guy that supplies pallets (materials have to ship on pallets) and truck drivers/logistics companies are all slammed.

Things are definitely on the rise and we’re busier than ever supplying displays to all kinds of vendors. That means their business is up too. When Marketing budgets are up, things are good.
 
The heart of the poor work force is two fold......lack of desire to train, learn work, be consistent what ever you want to label it.

Driven by a over abused inflated government identity and socialist driven segment....called govt assistance, unemployemt, and a whole host of other programs designed as a crutch...not a system of self advancement.

What we are all seeing is the direct descendents of a whole cast of people designed, cultivated, and now harvested by bad policy. And the crop is huge.
 
ManglerYJ said:
At the end of last summer, when the kids went back to school, I decided that I'd grab a part time job for some extra cash. Because I have to be able to pick my kids up from school, that means I have to be off work by 2:00 in the afternoon, so retail jobs are what I looked for. The hiring manager at Dollar General laughed in my interview, "So let me get this straight.... you have a Bachelors Degree from Michigan State in Advertising and Marketing, you have management experience from big box stores, you have worked as a consultant for a big 5 accounting firm and now you want a minimum wage job at a dollar store?"

"Yes. You are the only place that called me back. When can I start?"

Do I like it? Not really. But the store is close enough that I can be there in about 5 minutes and once I leave, I leave. I don't have to worry about where my next sale will be from, or if my client will like my proposal, etc.
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I like this post for sooooo many reasons. As in, doing what's best for the kiddos is paramount.
I applaud you Sir for your dedication to raising the kids despite the sacrifice in income.
A Mom can give birth after the child grows inside her. DAMN awesome. And can raise the child without the father being around.
Stepping up and being a Dad is awesome and i think you are a BADASS.
 
Paul said:
I like this post for sooooo many reasons. As in, doing what's best for the kiddos is paramount.
I applaud you Sir for your dedication to raising the kids despite the sacrifice in income.
A Mom can give birth after the child grows inside her. DAMN awesome. And can raise the child without the father being around.
Stepping up and being a Dad is awesome and i think you are a BADASS.
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Thank you. My son (the youngest) was 1 year old when I lost my job with Ecolab. Well, I didn't actually lose it - it's still there, just someone else is doing it. We made the decision for me to stay at home and my wife to go to work full time since she is an Occupational Therapist with over 25 years of experience and her earning potential is way more than mine. Prior, she was working PRN about 10 hours a week and I was working 50+. With her working full time, she could work 33 and see the kids way more than I did and I see them way more than she did. Win win for everything except the wallet, but I've been able to supplement a little with side graphics work and web design.
 
Best year I've had in this company already passed up last years annual profit for myself and the company... werebooked until end of nov at earliest and turning all residential work down until after VT stadiums done, I seen a restaurant handing out flyers saying hiring last week found it odd to be given that with my receipt!
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
The heart of the poor work force is two fold......lack of desire to train, learn work, be consistent what ever you want to label it.

Driven by a over abused inflated government identity and socialist driven segment....called govt assistance, unemployemt, and a whole host of other programs designed as a crutch...not a system of self advancement.

What we are all seeing is the direct descendents of a whole cast of people designed, cultivated, and now harvested by bad policy. And the crop is huge.
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I can’t agree with this more
 
Atla said:
I'm one of the select few in Marion who has never worked at Baxters. :)
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They almost sucked me in....got the job offer, turned in my notice, and then they pulled the offer. (For a sort of understandable, but mostly absurd technical reason.) Just a heads up, if you ever get a NC DNR ticket for taking fish bait from a public mountain stream, be sure to include that in your criminal history on a job application. :shaking:
 
Caver Dave said:
I agree... the pool of "qualified & willing" is down to "will show up & mediocre".
But, on the other side of the coin... a lot of the employers whining are still offering the same old weak ass wages they offered 10 years ago
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This ....
When the economy bottomed, companies got rid of people.
When they started hiring again, it was 25-50% less than previous ( in my industry).
I haven't really seen it come up much more than 3-5% at best.

Right now, same biz(old company gone) new company .... making 10% less than I was 12 years ago.
That's with 30 years experience ..... and I'm fortunate to get it.


Matt
 
jcramsey said:
They almost sucked me in....got the job offer, turned in my notice, and then they pulled the offer. (For a sort of understandable, but mostly absurd technical reason.) Just a heads up, if you ever get a NC DNR ticket for taking fish bait from a public mountain stream, be sure to include that in your criminal history on a job application. :shaking:
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Bwhahaha. You guys were lucky you weren't charged with 'Trafficking in Exotic Species'.

Of course, that sounds WAY more hardcore than catching salamanders.
 
So there's this...

Small business optimism soars, resulting in increased hiring and wages

Which ties into several posts in this thread.

The May report included several record-setting data points. Employee compensation increases hit a 45-year high at a record net 35%, positive earnings trends reached a survey high at a net 3%, positive sales trends are at the highest level since 1995 and expansion plans are the most robust in survey history.

A net 19% of small business owners noted that they are planning price increases, the highest level since 2008 while a net 3% reported positive profit trends, the best reading in the survey’s history.

“Small business owners are continuing an 18-month streak of unprecedented optimism which is leading to more hiring and raising wages,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “While they continue to face challenges in hiring qualified workers, they now have more resources to commit to attracting candidates.”

Businesses are planning on growth, with 29% of business owners looking to hire skilled workers, while 12% are looking to hire unskilled workers. To help attract workers, 35% of owners said they are increasing labor compensation.
 
Theyre killing us here as well. We are turning down bids because we cant keep up with what we have. Since november we have hired, trained, and deployed (3) 6 man field erection crews, a new project manager, a new detailer, a 3d scanner operator, and 3 new estimators, as well as several secretaries and helpers and a slough of shop guys. They have all of us detailers on 55 hr minimum weeks indefinitely. Ive only been here 3 years, but this last year we have doubled our production. Its amazing what leadership does in a nation.
 
Atla said:
Interesting job you got. I hope you guys are obeying your court ordered distances from Elementary schools...

:)
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Its interesting alright! :shaking: Hard to stay 500 ft from the school when youre building the school :D:eek::confused:
 
drkelly said:
It is the same problem in the industry that I work in (Class 8 truck). BOTH truck manufacturing plants are working two shifts and fully booked until early 2019. If you order a new truck today, you are going to have to wait about 9+ months before it will be built. Some of our suppliers are struggling to keep up with part demand for the plants too.
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I was in Dublin Va a few weeks ago and Volvo has a plant there.There were 100’s of trucks parked around town on empty lots.I happened to talk to a guy who worked there and he said all those trucks were waiting on a/c components to be finished.Dude said one comp made all the a/c stuff and couldn’t keep up.


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Atla said:
Interesting job you got. I hope you guys are obeying your court ordered distances from Elementary schools...

:)
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Why had I not took the time to read the blog in your signature until now? It is now bookmarked!
 
mbalbritton said:
Finding good help for the same price is getting harder. We’re paying more for the same level of work. We’re also up another 16% over this time last year.

Everyone I talk to, especially my guy that supplies pallets (materials have to ship on pallets) and truck drivers/logistics companies are all slammed.

Things are definitely on the rise and we’re busier than ever supplying displays to all kinds of vendors. That means their business is up too. When Marketing budgets are up, things are good.
Click to expand...


Hopefully business will still be strong for you in a couple years when I can work more "regular" hours because from the pictures you've posted of the projects you've worked on, the level of creativity and craftsmanship is right in my wheelhouse. It kills me not being able to be creative at work. Right now, I'd almost be better suited to a second shift job, where during school, an early first shift would be about the only option, unless I could do something part time where a company could work with my schedule.
 
BIGWOODY said:
Damn...that race shop must've taken off!
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Day Job...cfo for a pharma company. Race Shop is ready for a couple full time...but again, people aren't worth a shit, just no attention to detail or quality...at least not up to snuff, regardless of the hourly wage. Hell, the landscaping business, getting difficult to find people that can ride a zero turn without scorching grass on every turn.
 
I recently gave up on a home improvement project I wanted. Driveway expansion with retaining wall, some steps, and an expansion of my pool deck.

After speaking to 5 different contractors Who all came out to discuss it here’s the result:

1 - too small of a job for us. Sorry
2 - it’s a small job but we’ll get back to you next week on a cost (been 7 weeks)
3 - I don’t really want the job but will do it for $15k (honestly what I expected the cost to be roughly). Told the guy that could work and what are the next steps. Silence. Been 6 weeks now
4 - to make it worth my while I need $25k
5 - I can start in a week but it’s gonna take $32k to get you on my calendar.

I’ll wait til this Fall and try again I guess.
 
Seems we passed the Rain/flood season, & Construction has been waiting for 3-4 months. I work "part-time", & my last 5 days I put in 42 hours! One day was only 3 hours, but the others varied from 8 - 12 hr. days! They letting me recoup, today. Whoo!
 
Atla said:
So there's this...

Small business optimism soars, resulting in increased hiring and wages

Which ties into several posts in this thread.

The May report included several record-setting data points. Employee compensation increases hit a 45-year high at a record net 35%, positive earnings trends reached a survey high at a net 3%, positive sales trends are at the highest level since 1995 and expansion plans are the most robust in survey history.

A net 19% of small business owners noted that they are planning price increases, the highest level since 2008 while a net 3% reported positive profit trends, the best reading in the survey’s history.

“Small business owners are continuing an 18-month streak of unprecedented optimism which is leading to more hiring and raising wages,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “While they continue to face challenges in hiring qualified workers, they now have more resources to commit to attracting candidates.”

Businesses are planning on growth, with 29% of business owners looking to hire skilled workers, while 12% are looking to hire unskilled workers. To help attract workers, 35% of owners said they are increasing labor compensation.
Click to expand...
So the theme I keep seeing here again and again is, people are upping the pay etc just to get/keep people b/c there is so much demand for employees.... yet at the same time the overall quality of workers has diminished.

The big problem is this is a vicious cycle that IMO is only making the problem worse. The lazy people are not being forced out or really negatively reinforced for being lazy/a shitty employee. There's no incentive to really be a guy that does a good job... b/c when fired, you can easily just find another job.

When times are rough and jobs are scarce, then the crème rises to the top, boys are separated from men, and there is pressure for boys to become men. But when the heat is off... it doesn't happen. The boys just stay boys.
We have really gotten spoiled as a society from many years of an overall good economy and stable country w/o serious struggle or domestic conflict. Hence people now don't know how to struggle, nor have the appreciation for how good we have it just to have the opportunity to work. Even during the recession, life here was still waaaay better than the vast majority of the world.
I feel like these periods of high turnover, raging economy are good for the wallet in the short term but very bad for worker attitude in the long run.
Hence going back to the title of this thread.... yes, IMO in fact it is killing us, in a very spiritual sense.
 
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RatLabGuy said:
So the theme I keep seeing here again and again is, people are upping the pay etc just to get/keep people b/c there is so much demand for employees.... yet at the same time the overall quality of workers has diminished.

The big problem is this is a vicious cycle that IMO is only making the problem worse. The lazy people are not being forced out or really negatively reinforced for being lazy/a shitty employee. There's no incentive to really be a guy that does a good job... b/c when fired, you can easily just find another job.

When times are rough and jobs are scarce, then the crème rises to the top, boys are separated from men, and there is pressure for boys to become men. But when the heat is off... it doesn't happen. The boys just stay boys.
We have really gotten spoiled as a society from many years of an overall good economy and stable country w/o serious struggle or domestic conflict. Hence people now don't know how to struggle, nor have the appreciation for how good we have it just to have the opportunity to work. Even during the recession, life here was still waaaay better than the vast majority of the world.
I feel like these periods of high turnover, raging economy are good for the wallet in the short term but very bad for worker attitude in the long run.
Hence going back to the title of this thread.... yes, IMO in fact it is killing us, in a very social sense.
Click to expand...
Hadnt thought of it that way. very interesting outlook on things.
 
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