What is wrong with the workforce?

BigBody79 said:
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.
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I think his post was self-identifying as a joke ;)
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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The bible says "if a man ask you to walk a mile, go with him two. If a person ask for your coat, give him your shirt also"

That lines up with what @jason W said. DO MORE THAN WHAT IS ASKED OF YOU!!

I am only 27. I dropped out of HS, but I have worked my butt off and learned so much the hard way. I did go back and get my GED. I often wonder how my life would be if I had a degree, but my real world experience has proven to take me far.
I am in sales now for construction materials. I deal with lazy PMs that want me to do their take offs and calculate how much rebar they need. They want me to read a spec for a job and quote the materials needed. I HATE doing it, it's not my job, but if I don't do it the other salesman he sends it to might do it and guess who will get the purchase order if that person wins the bid?? Not me. I go above and beyond for my customers cause most folks won't go half way.
Schools and parents these days have made most people my age and most everyone younger than me think they are going to land a sweet job at a great salary cause the have a degree.
Most (but not all) kids graduate and have no real world experience. They can't handle it when the pressure is on and don't know how to handle someone talking to them a little stern when they screw up. Rather than learning from the mistake their entitlement lifestyle makes them think they were mistreated and deserve better.

To find a good employee these days you have to be competitive, meaning more than likely you won't find that person without a job and you will have to take said employee from another employer.


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Jus Jim said:
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.
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To tell the other side of the story my wife has been w John Deere for 15 years,shes 44 and hates it.Alot of the reason(s) the old hands start slipping is that they are tired of being the weight carriers.JD has a 80 percent turn over rate on their temps.Its so bad they have four temp agencies tryin to fill all the openings and JD is one of the best payin places in town.They are always training somebody just to have them last a day or two and the ones that do stay don't come to work half the time.She trained one person who missed 20 days her first three months.They finally fired her but rehired her a couple of weeks later because they cant keep temps. Last week we were goin out of town and she wanted to take two hours vac time on the day before we were suppose to leave but couldnt because to many people were out. She wound up having to take a 1/2 point to get off.Im not nessacarily defending the lazy old timers cause alot of them feel entitled and that the employer cant function w/o them but,like my wife,they see its easier to go w the flow than try to do more,especially when the guy next to you is making the same money and doing waaay less.She has been taken to HR before because she told a temp they needed to speed up.One of the best jobs I ever had the pay was based on merit.They had the work and were willing to pay if you performed for them.By the end of my first week I was already makin more than some who had been there 5 years.
 
ManglerYJ said:
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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That's another one of those jobs I'm glad somebody wants,cause I want no part of it due to the emotional attachment.Lets hope that doesn't set your daughter back when theyre gone.If it was my family Id help for sure but some random/not family person,no thanks.
 
I've tried to employ a few people.. only one was worth his pay but he went to Firestone.. the others either showed up late or not at all or were slow or screwed up things and then not tell me and leave me to find out and then claim they didn't screw up. I couldn't care less if a bolt shears, tell me or fix it. If you fix it, i don't have to know, cause it's fixed. But ffs don't just leave it broke off and not tell me. Those 3 guys all got fired and I gave up on having any help. Oh and they were getting free mech school with pay basically. I'd rather hire someone mechanically inclined with no experience than someone convinced their wrong way is right.
 
1-tonmudder said:
To tell the other side of the story my wife has been w John Deere for 15 years,shes 44 and hates it.Alot of the reason(s) the old hands start slipping is that they are tired of being the weight carriers.JD has a 80 percent turn over rate on their temps.Its so bad they have four temp agencies tryin to fill all the openings and JD is one of the best payin places in town.They are always training somebody just to have them last a day or two and the ones that do stay don't come to work half the time.She trained one person who missed 20 days her first three months.They finally fired her but rehired her a couple of weeks later because they cant keep temps. Last week we were goin out of town and she wanted to take two hours vac time on the day before we were suppose to leave but couldnt because to many people were out. She wound up having to take a 1/2 point to get off.Im not nessacarily defending the lazy old timers cause alot of them feel entitled and that the employer cant function w/o them but,like my wife,they see its easier to go w the flow than try to do more,especially when the guy next to you is making the same money and doing waaay less.She has been taken to HR before because she told a temp they needed to speed up.One of the best jobs I ever had the pay was based on merit.They had the work and were willing to pay if you performed for them.By the end of my first week I was already makin more than some who had been there 5 years.
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That's another problem nowadays, big companies don't want to hire permanent positions with decent pay and benefits. You get the bottom of the barrel with temp agencies.
 
I have a summer intern starting today, an EE undergrad from UMBC...
Quick backstory - the agency I work for has 2 primary campuses, one is just north of DC, the other at Aberdeen Proving Ground, a giant Army post which is north of Baltimore almost in DE, about an hour away. We are at the latter.
After interviewing, setting up his paperwork etc, I sent him directions on how to get here, including a link to our visitor center info that includes a map. He lives in Baltimore.
Just found out he's not here... b/c he went to the other campus. "I just followed my GPS." He lives in Baltimore.

I get that if you just Google us it defaults to the other campus - but at some point wouldn't you think, hey, I'm going COMPLETELY THE WRONG DIRECTION. We even talked about how it would be a trek for him b/c of where he lives.

More evidence of why always having a GPS available to do everything for you is BAD.
 
RatLabGuy said:
I have a summer intern starting today, an EE undergrad from UMBC...
Quick backstory - the agency I work for has 2 primary campuses, one is just north of DC, the other at Aberdeen Proving Ground, a giant Army post which is north of Baltimore almost in DE, about an hour away. We are at the latter.
After interviewing, setting up his paperwork etc, I sent him directions on how to get here, including a link to our visitor center info that includes a map. He lives in Baltimore.
Just found out he's not here... b/c he went to the other campus. "I just followed my GPS." He lives in Baltimore.

I get that if you just Google us it defaults to the other campus - but at some point wouldn't you think, hey, I'm going COMPLETELY THE WRONG DIRECTION. We even talked about how it would be a trek for him b/c of where he lives.

More evidence of why always having a GPS available to do everything for you is BAD.
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Sounds like a dumb ass that needs help wiping his own rear. Wait, you did, and he still went to the wrong place!
 
RatLabGuy said:
I have a summer intern starting today, an EE undergrad from UMBC...
Quick backstory - the agency I work for has 2 primary campuses, one is just north of DC, the other at Aberdeen Proving Ground, a giant Army post which is north of Baltimore almost in DE, about an hour away. We are at the latter.
After interviewing, setting up his paperwork etc, I sent him directions on how to get here, including a link to our visitor center info that includes a map. He lives in Baltimore.
Just found out he's not here... b/c he went to the other campus. "I just followed my GPS." He lives in Baltimore.

I get that if you just Google us it defaults to the other campus - but at some point wouldn't you think, hey, I'm going COMPLETELY THE WRONG DIRECTION. We even talked about how it would be a trek for him b/c of where he lives.

More evidence of why always having a GPS available to do everything for you is BAD.
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I get that weekly with my contractors. I give them specific directions to my work site and say that if they use a GPS, use Google Maps only as iMaps or anything other than google based mapping services takes you to a site gate that is 20 minutes away.

Id say at least 60% of the time I get contractors that don't read instructions and end up lost or at the wrong gate. When I ask if they read the instructions, they just say they used their pHone's GPS to get there. I quickly tell them to read the instructions and call me when they are in the correct location.

Damn. It's not hard.
 
rockcity said:
Damn. It's not hard.
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"Page specs" have turned into book specs on even the most simple projects because I can't cover my ass efficiently enough these days due to lack of reading 20 simple lines of spec on the front page. NOOOO...I have to now follow masterspec format and cover every single base plausible because the "easy way" still wasn't easy enough.

You try and make things fool proof, and Darwin seems to accept the challenge and make an even bigger fool
 
CasterTroy said:
I have to now follow masterspec format and cover every single base plausible because the "easy way" still wasn't easy enough.
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And then manufacturers get involved and turn Masterspec language into a specsmanship game and the designer unknowingly sole specs a manufacturer because they are the only one in the industry that X,Y,Z.

Or..you get these wordy antiquated specs that are outdated and every bidder just knowingly nods and ignores, until you some young junior associate charged with reviewing the specs and he demands that you provide proof that you've included technology that hasnt existed since he was in junior high....not that I am currently fighting this exact scenario or anything.
 
ooops this isnt in the garage so I probably shouldnt give so many detauls
 
The contractor is obligated to provide what's in the drawings, and the construction administrator is obligated to ensure that the contractor is performing according to the contract. And the subs are free to propose alternates. If the alternate decreases the project cost or makes the bidding more competitive, they will be welcomed warmly.

It's not rocket surgery.
 
shawn said:
The contractor is obligated to provide what's in the drawings, and the construction administrator is obligated to ensure that the contractor is performing according to the contract. And the subs are free to propose alternates. If the alternate decreases the project cost or makes the bidding more competitive, they will be welcomed warmly.

It's not rocket surgery.
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Where the problem usually comes in, is when the Mechanical provides whats in the mechanical drawings, the electrical provides whats in the electrical drawings and unfortunately the ME and the EE have never met despite sitting in adjacent cubes.

Then you get a diesel generator in the middle of a building in the subbasement with zero air flow and no way to fill the 1200 gallon fuel tank that also doesnt meet code because it exceeds 660 gallons and isnt encased in rated firewalls.
 
I've quit hiring. I'm so tired of paying a worthless moron to complain about having to work. We're a small shop, I always figured I was a bad employer or I wasn't paying enough, or the shop was difficult to work in.
And I'm probably all of those things...but the truth is....people are lazy and are only out for themselves.
The first story in this video explains exactly what I've experienced with employees

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mysterync said:
I've quit hiring. I'm so tired of paying a worthless moron to complain about having to work. We're a small shop, I always figured I was a bad employer or I wasn't paying enough, or the shop was difficult to work in.
And I'm probably all of those things...but the truth is....people are lazy and are only out for themselves.
The first story in this video explains exactly what I've experienced with employees

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Zig Zigler??? whats that his porn name???
 
I know I am late on responding to this thread, but I'd like to add something. I am 27 years old and I see the new generation of people coming into the workforce have a BIG problem with doing actual work. I have trained a couple of these newbies and they just don't seem to care... It makes me feel like I am speaking as a much older person that I am, but I do see it. I work with mostly older people and they have kids who are in college or high school and I hear their stories about how they act and don't work and don't even want to drive... and here I am thinking to myself "My dad would have beat my ass if I acted like some of these kids"
But my favorite is this.... When I say something to these people about how my parents would never let me act that way or not have a job at all and they still pay for their stuff... They like to say "Well, its not just my child... The more I talk to other parents, they are going through the same thing" So it seems they just put it off because others are going through it and they just ignore it.
 
Dylan W. said:
I never once mentioned, or even thought about taking away free lunch,or not paying him during lunch. I was just gonna give him 2 bucks more per hour. Upping him to 14.

He declined. I will not argue about it..lol
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damn dude, I need to work for you. Ill bring my own lunch :)
But seriously, I think people like you make people want to work...and work harder. I have a pretty cool boss as well (although she doesn't have the authority to give me a raise) and I never have an issue with doing something she needs me to do.
 
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