What is wrong with the workforce?

I'm in college now, granted I turned wrenches for a few years at a local dealership before I went into the army. I sat down in a class yesterday and some kid who can't even shave yet walks in with a Carolina blue Bernie Sanders shirt on. It generally pissed me off because I busted my ass for my education paid for and wake up with pains/aches that will be with me the rest of my life. In my classes especially hands on, I end up figuring it out on my own and helping other students grasp the concepts. Most are so damn clueless about how to do anything with their hands and its because they didn't have that drive to take stuff apart and put it back together as a kid. I'm the not smartest person but hard work overcomes talent and intellect most the of the damn time. They really are just lazy as hell, and would rather play video games all day instead of build something cool.
 
Ron said:
None of this accounts for incompetence. If incompetence is accepted it will become the norm.
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This is the root of the problem in my line of work. Those in charge have no idea what they are in charge of, so they hire people who don't know what they are doing, and then are unable to see the error because of ignorance.
 
Ron said:
In every field and within every subset there will always be remedial,average and superior abilities and/or capabilities.

If you are a hiring manager and you constantly see yourself surrounded by idiots, examine your prospecting, hiring and screening practices.
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Yes, those statements are both very true. I work in an industry that doesn't put up with people that don't do their job or aren't good at their job. If you can't hack it, you're slowing other people down and you're getting booted out the door. I briefly worked for a company that did not have that philosophy, and I booted myself out the door in frustration. No one likes to feel that they're the only person who is pulling their weight. In my case it was being too mired in bureaucracy to get anything done, then being told I was doing excellent work above what was expected. I didn't finish a single project the entire time I was there, because I couldn't.

iwaxmyjimmy said:
They really are just lazy as hell, and would rather play video games all day instead of build something cool.
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I think that's a big problem right there. There are a lot of people who would rather play video games or obsess over fantasy football instead of doing something productive and learning things. I don't care what you do as a hobby; if that hobby involves using your hands or using your brain (or both), then you're gaining an edge over those people. There's nothing inherently wrong with video games or whatever, but then don't act like it's a mystery when many other people seem to have more knowledge or have more useful skills than you do.
 
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The piss poor work ethic is the norm nowadays. Although more prevalent among the youngsters it's in the old folks too. People don't want to do shite. If you let them come in late, take long bathroom breaks, an extra 5 or 10 minutes for lunch and head phones / cell phones during the shift they will pretty much show up most days. If you expect them to get their arse in gear and work while they are on the clock you're going to go through a minimum of 15 people to find 1 that will do it.
 
One of my MBA professors told all of us that we should be having a talk with our mangers to see what our path is once we finish our MBA's at our careers and be asking for a raise. I told my boss they said this, and I told him the piece of paper doesn't me shit to him until I can prove I can put it to work and make better business decisions and help him make more money. A piece of paper doesn't mean shit if I can't show that I can apply it.

I did tell him a few months after I graduated that I wanted a raise though, but I came up with a business case around to prove what I had done for him.
 
I find it interesting that almost every post in this thread is people complaining about how few good workers there are and nobody has a work ethic etc.
If that were really the case, that slackers are the majority, then shouldn't there be a lot more posts from that side? :D

Apparently the key to finding good workers is to recruit them from the pool of people spending their time on NV4x4 Gen Chit Chat.
 
There is an engineer here at my work who has been here about 3 yrs. I would guess him to be about 35-40 yrs old. The first year or so he appeared to work a normal 40 hr work week showing up at about 8:30-9am. We have flex hours here, 7-8:30am start, leave 9 hrs later with mandatory 1 hr lunch. Then he started slipping. It got so bad he would be showing up anytime between 9:30am and 1pm. Some days he would be a no show. Even his boss didn't know where he was a lot of the time. I am absolutely shocked that he has not been fired.
 
mbalbritton said:
Any of you manage a team of temporary workers through an employment agency? I had to show one of them how to use a fawkin' TAPE GUN!...welcome to my world.
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Lol. I've had to do the same but it was a staple hammer. Damn dude ended up stapling his thumb to the bottom of the sofa, TWICE! He was 47.... At 18, even I knew how to not do that!
 
DSM Turbos said:
One of my MBA professors told all of us that we should be having a talk with our mangers to see what our path is once we finish our MBA's at our careers and be asking for a raise. I told my boss they said this, and I told him the piece of paper doesn't me shit to him until I can prove I can put it to work and make better business decisions and help him make more money. A piece of paper doesn't mean shit if I can't show that I can apply it.
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Lol. My MCM professor said something similar. Many of the students in the classes with me know very little about construction. All the professors want to teach is theory. How are these people that don't know how to use Timberline or even perform a simple take-off expected to manage employees doing that work?

No shit, these are students, some with engineering degrees (and others) having problems doing a take off and figuring volume of concrete on a 4" thick slab with simple monolithic turndown footers versus poured footer and typical 4" slab for a garage. And these are master level students in an "advanced" estimating class.

I think I actually am a little dumber after listening to those fools.
 
rockcity said:
Lol. My MCM professor said something similar. Many of the students in the classes with me know very little about construction. All the professors want to teach is theory. How are these people that don't know how to use Timberline or even perform a simple take-off expected to manage employees doing that work?

No shit, these are students, some with engineering degrees (and others) having problems doing a take off and figuring volume of concrete on a 4" thick slab with simple monolithic turndown footers versus poured footer and typical 4" slab for a garage. And these are master level students in an "advanced" estimating class.

I think I actually am a little dumber after listening to those fools.
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Or you end up with a professor who says he's not really gonna teach you how to do a take off cause every company does it differnt or uses a different software..... I still check some computer calculations by hand to make sure its still right
 
Loganwayne said:
Or you end up with a professor who says he's not really gonna teach you how to do a take off cause every company does it differnt or uses a different software..... I still check some computer calculations by hand to make sure its still right
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Mine said that they want us to be familiar that there are multiple ways to estimate and multiple programs but won't actually teach how to do it. My professor was teaching herself how to navigate Timberline while trying to teach the class how to be familiar with it. Ugh. I wanted to stab my eye with a rusty nail in lieu of continuing with the hack class...

It didn't really bother me much as I already know estimating. But I feel sorry for the employer of my fellow classmates that, even after a master level estimating class can't figure the number of squares on a 2,000 sq ft roof but will be expected to manage people doing the estimating.
 
Same teacher told me an interior designer and an architect were the same thing basically. I called him is bull shit and he got pissed. He also didn't know how to use revit or AutoCAD. If you had a question about how to do something he said to utube it.

Some of the "smartest" straight A kids dont know what size plywood comes in or how you buy nails and screws, they thought you buy them by the single instead of pound.
 
RatLabGuy said:
I find it interesting that almost every post in this thread is people complaining about how few good workers there are and nobody has a work ethic etc.
If that were really the case, that slackers are the majority, then shouldn't there be a lot more posts from that side? :D

Apparently the key to finding good workers is to recruit them from the pool of people spending their time on NV4x4 Gen Chit Chat.
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I'M HIRING RIGHT NOW. NEED COMPETENT TRUCK/HEAVY EQUIP MECHANICS!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Fabrik8 said:
There are a lot of people who would rather play video games or obsess over fantasy football instead of doing something productive and learning things.
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this right here says it all for the teens/young adult category of lazy...maybe adults too but I don't know. A game here and there is one thing but the hours and days of so many people's lives spent on these mindless games is mind boggling to me...I haven't played a game in over 10yrs and hardly watch any tv. Got rid of cable 8yrs ago and when my day is over with work, I spend a little time on here otherwise I'm out searching the web for knowledge on mechanic stuff, welding, cutting, tools, fabricating...whatever can possibly make me a little better at what I do and am able to do. Then there's the work all day and work all night on a big job till it gets done ...love working all night with peace and quiet, kinda why I love working at home at my own pace.
 
Most/ some of the population don't have any heart, or motivation as I see it. They just don't seem to have the drive to do their best at whatever they do, just doing what they have to do.

The key to success is simple , when you are presented with a challenge/job or life obstacle , do more than is required, motivate yourself and in the end know that you gave 110%
Do more than just the lowest standard and you will sail far above the crowd around you.
 
Jason W. said:
Most/ some of the population don't have any heart, or motivation as I see it. They just don't seem to have the drive to do their best at whatever they do, just doing what they have to do.

The key to success is simple , when you are presented with a challenge/job or life obstacle , do more than is required, motivate yourself and in the end know that you gave 110%
Do more than just the lowest standard and you will sail far above the crowd around you.
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Becoming the subject matter expert on things is how I fast tracked in the Army, then having integrity and being responsible showed how much I respected those positions. It showed I could be trusted by my leadership and my soldiers under me to do a good job and the right thing. People barely take responsibility for their screw ups now. Hell my 32 year old sister sucks at adulting and her main problem is she doesn't understand responsibility.
 
I'm 28. I have a ged because I dropped out at 16 because my job at the time was more important to me. I got a job at a fab shop as a gopher. Quickly got promoted to machinist because of my hard work drive. They taught me a lot and I was happy to learn.

I got my ged and applied for the job I have now. Took this job(chemical mixer at Sherwin williams) at 19 and bought my house at 20 years old. I started working 12hr shifts 3 days a week(fri Sat sun). I then started roofing with my brother in law and father in law during the week. For the last 7 years I have worked every weekend and most every week.

I don't need anything and I hardly want for anything but it's because i work hard for it. I can't stand to hear someone say "man I wish I had a nice truck and stuff like you have. Must be nice to have money" but I hear it all the time. Mostly from my friends.

My generation is full of entitled little pricks that want everything for nothing. I blame the schools. When I was in school all I heard was you better go get a bachelor degree or you'll never make it. Bull crap. I grossed over 100k last year with a ged. What separates me from the majority..... I work
 
Jason W. said:
Most/ some of the population don't have any heart, or motivation as I see it. They just don't seem to have the drive to do their best at whatever they do, just doing what they have to do.

The key to success is simple , when you are presented with a challenge/job or life obstacle , do more than is required, motivate yourself and in the end know that you gave 110%
Do more than just the lowest standard and you will sail far above the crowd around you.
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I was reminded of this principal this morning while watching my son (home from college for the summer after his first year) pack his lunch cooler this morning at 5:45

He was making noises and kind of grunting, and then I heard him say "You know, if competitive cooler packing was a sport, I'd win a gold metal"

That made me SO proud. Why? Well because if he takes THAT much pride in packing his lunch for a job with a plumbing contractor, where he spends 8 hrs a day in the heat digging ditches and setting pipe beds for sewer pipe in rain or shine (he's JUST like his dad..he HATES Mud) then he will take pride in most any job he does.

The summer before his freshman year in college he was involved in track, and pre-classes, and his schedule was packed...too packed to have a steady JOB, but back in Feb he asked me if I could pull some strings with a few contractors I knew and secure him a full time job for the summer so he could make some money. I TOLD him it'd be the hardest work of his life.....he didn't care. I was so afraid he'd bail after the first day...especially since his first week it rained every day and he came home a muddy mess. But he gets up every morning an hour and a half early to make his coffee, lunch, and do his fair share of txt'ing and snapchatting (he IS a teen afterall) but come 6:30 he's in the car on the way to the jobsite.

If this holds up, he'll have the same work ethic his old man, and mom do...and that makes me proud as hell. Especially in todays environment.
 
Falko said:
I am a mid-career engineer, but I self identify as a CEO. If a company doesn't pay me as such then they are infringing on my civil rights.
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Not mad at you specifically for saying that. But, the general idea of it is starting to grate me the wrong way. You don't self identify has a CEO. If you did you would either be one or act like one. But if you are only a mid career engineer then that is all you are. If you thought you were a CEO then you'd be out on your own starting your own business or taking over the company your at. You are what you are. They are what they are. Sure you can make changes to better your self or to make positive changes in your life. But, the idea that you can just suddenly self identify as something other that what you currently are is inane.


And to get it back on track. I tell kids all the time: There isn't an industry in America that isn't looking for hard-working, honest individuals. Those two traits will take you further than any education every will.
 
Jus Jim said:
One "positive" about the work force in general is that it makes it much easier for a motivated and determined person to succeed. The bar is set so low that folks that apply themselves look like shooting stars.
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This is true. My oldest step-daughter really showed no promise growing up. She barely got through high school - basically teachers felt bad for her because of her ADHD and because of "No child left behind" just pushed her through the system and figured the next teacher would figure it out. After some serious relationship mistakes, and some poor life decisions, she finally met a guy who has some drive and it has made a world of difference in her. She is a CNA and has bounced around from nursing home to nursing home until finally some friends needed a CNA for their ailing parents with Alzheimer's. Since she has worked with patients like this before, she took the job. My wife gave her the best possible advice, "Just treat them the way you would treat your grand-parents.

As a result, our friends have nothing but good things to say about her. She is responsive, responsible and has taken the task to heart. She has definitely struggled, but this is finally where she needs to be. Other CNA's they have had just wanted to come in, do the bare minimum and go. She is showing genuine care for them and it shows.
 
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