This is more directed at the guys running or working in shops. I own a restoration and body shop, Very rarely work on anything newer than '72. I have noticed something around here and didnt know if it was the same more spread out... Is it really getting harder and harder to find good help. This year alone Ive hired/fired 6 people, 2 in one week. It seems that no one wants to work anymore and the few that do want $40/hour to work. My turn around before this year was around 2 years. Had great help 2 years ago but he decided to get 3 duis in a month and got 8 years... Current worker is doing great, but i did discover today that he cant read so i gotta do all that stuff (no biggie). I also run in to quite a few people that can not read in this field. That also common any where else?
Shit, man! I'll come work for ya! How far is Boone from Charlotte?!? Lol, ummmmmm, a little over two hours each way. That's a BITCH of a commute...
Funny 'cause I've been trying to get into the earlier car work biz and nobody trusts me enough to even let me push a broom around in their shop. I guess it's because I am young and I don't have prior experience in a car shop... then I hear of the yahoos that got in instead of me getting in huge shit or just not working out. Luckily I got into a truck shop, sorta what I wanted to do. I guess it's hard to tell who's a talker and who's a worker.
I know it's a bit off subject but in our package store the hired help only lasts a month or so before getting sorry as hell or stealing.. I believe there is no such thing as good, honest help.. If you find someone, well u know, good things never last.. Had a 23 year old a year ago that couldn't get her ass unglued from the stool and couldn't count change back..
It has gotten that way in every industry, we have come to accept mediocrity from people and we are actually surprised when someone gives us good service or does a good job. The other problem is that it isn't politically correct anymore to be strict with people under you. The people who run companies these days want you to bake them a cupcake with their name on it and never get on them if they are not performing. We have to treat them with kindness. Give me the old days any time, when a Boss was a Boss and would tear you a new one if you weren't performing. Don
I see it all the time. I issue work instructions for mechanical and electrical assemblies and try to "dumb it down" so almost anyone who passed the 8th grade can understand them. We had this one worker who was so illiterate that she wasn't able to tell the difference between a process oven that was set for "F" and one that was set for "C" and fried something really expensive on us. Bob
it's the education system in most areas..... they don't teach and pass everyone so they don't damage the student's "feeling good about them self" student's don't have to get the correct answers, just describe the process on how to get the answer One grumpy old man's opinion!
When I was a young man it was common for older country folk to not be able to read. A current trend that I am seeing around here anyway is that younger high school grads cannot read. I don't believe that it is just the Kansas City area that has this problem. It is hard to find a craftsman that does not want a ton of money to work. I would like to say that it is only the younger generation that is lazy but that would be an out and out lie. It seems that the average off the street employee these days does not have a good work ethic, and it is not age dependent. When I was still working it was common for me to have to carry my fellow employees and I actually worked places that expected me to work while the others lounged around. All that said it is an employers market these days, you should be able to find someone that is willing to work and capable if you live in a town of 30,000 or greater. There may even be fellas on here willing to relocate with a little incentive, like knowing that they are going to have a job when they get there incentive. Why not post for help if you need it. You are not going to find someone that is capable and willing for minumum wage though. That is just a fact of life, if you want a craftsman you are going to have to pay him.
Place I just retired from had decently qualified capable workers, the exception being some of the women who would lag behind until moved into a job "that better suited her". My biggest complaint was the ones who went to the smoke break area every 30 to 60 minutes, for about twenty minutes. I started just shutting down the machine and going with them, or going to a different area where nobody was smoking. Boss came around and asked me what I was doing, "taking a smoke break". "But you don't smoke". "Ok, I'm taking a non-smoke break". "Get back to work, Not until my break is over". I held my ground until it was kicked upstairs, where the official ruling was that smokers could have 2 ten minute breaks per hour, but not the non-smokers. My name was crap then, but who cares? And I continued to take the same breaks as the smokers.
Might be worth the time to goto a trade school or high school and sit in a shop class to see how they work, pick a couple and offer a job. If they work hard in a school setting, they maybe ok. Especially a vo-tech school, if there in the class, its what they want to do. Alternately, you could get Rosetta stone, learn Spanish, and hire a legal immigrant
Two ten-minute breaks per hour....? Gee, that's only a THIRD of the working time. WTF ? Nice comment on what the comapny is endorsing for American labor productivity right there,,,
OK this is way off topic but I think you can relate. A young lady that was in some of my classes in school the last time was not allowed to take a break with the smokers where she worked, because she didn't smoke. She used to come outside and talk with me when I went to smoke at school. Anyway one evening she was telling me about the deal and I gave her a cigerette. She said, "I don't smoke." I said no but now you have your own cigerette, when the smokers go for a break go with them, if the boss comes around show him our cigerette and tell, him that you are thinking very heavily about smoking it but you only have one so you have to make it last. That was about 6 years ago give or take. She called and asked me to lunch last spring, so when we went into the restaurant and they asked if we had a smoking preference she pulled her cigerette out and said, "yea camels." Now on her third position since graduation and still using the cigerette that I gave her.
Sounds like a better option than DUI Guy. If he works out surely you can teach him to read on a piece-meal basis.
ive never had a job where i couldnt smoke while i was workin.back in the 70s and early 80s i worked at a caddy/olds dealer and we smoked while we worked on the cars .also run a few parts stores over the yrs. we smoked at the counter.now back to the subject, ive all but closed my shop to the public. im crippled up so i cant do what i want and my son is slow as christmas.and i cant find one person who wants to work.well not on percentage anyway.i always put it in their favor but they all seem to want 60 or more a hr. man ive never made that kinda money.small shop ,out in the country we only build or work on 74 and back. no imports of anykind. we also build custom bikes but the market went to shit along with the help.since the economy went in the toilet we have all but lost most of our customers. seems nobody around here can spend what it takes.so i get all day to work on my stuff .kinda hard when you run out of workin money.lol dont matter anyway because i cant find one person who wants to work anyway.hell im even lookin for someone i can hand the keys to and say ,go make us some money.but cant even find that one.lol
I'll be in the raven's pit unless I get the little roadster sorted out then I will be wandering around. I won't be hard to find I am the guy with the tattoo, not to be confused with the rest of the folks I am the guy that only has one. Check your PMs
Back when the workers educated us we learned to do things with our hands-physical....hands-on work..... Now that the educated are teaching us and ours that we must have a degree from a college and subliminally teaching all to reject physical work as beneath our standards we are experiencing the effects of such poorly though out teaching methods. We cannot all be part of this "I wanna start at the top" mentality this creates.... The ones being hired now think they are ripped off as a result of having to prove themselves from the start instead of sliding em into management the first friday they are paid... The tech industry and their offshoot bussinesses are necessary ,sure....but untill we instill plain simple work ethics and pride in the physical accomplishments of the work done with our hands,yes dirty hands in some cases....we will be seeing more of the mediocrity we are experiencing today......
Exactly how old is the quote “Good help is hard to find " You want steady, reliable help? That will be a family man with responsibilities. You want cheap help? That will be inexperienced You want good help cheap ? They will have issues and addictions you want the best ? They want and deserve top $$$. The family man wants, needs a steady check, some type of medical, and no 1099 BS. The inexperienced help need to be taught and watched like a hawk. The guy with issues who is good will tax your reputation and try your patients (pun) The best pretty much call their own game and don't have to put up with your crap. They will make you money if you treat them right and set the deal up right. They are machines and if you maintain your crap they go and produce quality. It will take you 80 hrs of work to keep him lined out for 40 non stop. The help you want isn't looking for a job, they are working someplace else forever looking for more opportunity.
I had my Body Shop for 25 years, after the first 7 or 8 yrs. I finally got tired of paying people to screw things up and having to work all night repairing their mistakes.Having employees was like babysitting,always cleaning up their mess and trying to teach them to stand on their own.after investing the effort to teach them,they often leave for greener pastures....things got better when I realized I was better off doing the work myself and having a part time helper to chase parts,wash cars and sweep.
I'm not that far from you but I agree that finding good workers is hard to do. We went through several a year. Most that stop in to apply for a job either want to sweep the floor or if they claim to know paint and body want 60 bucks an hour, and some of those need to feed their pill habit. Since my son has came into the business with me we just take in what we can handle ourselves.
I read an article in a business journal recently about this very subject. In the olden days, that a majority of us here grew up in, people that wanted to work were expected to conform to the company's needs and policies. Now, however, the trend of this generation's workers feel that the company should change it's policies to fit the employee's needs. There is a total lack of any kind of work ethics and employee loyalty anymore. I am a sales rep for AC Delco and Motorcraft parts and I see it everyday in our warehouses across several states; people tend to stand around talking, texting, showing videos on their phones and generally doing a slow, sloppy job when they do work. A lot feel they should get out of high school and have top paying jobs with basically no education. We pay a very good wage for basic warehouse work but can't seem to get people that want to work.
And I have the knowledge, the want-to, dont drink, or do drugs, and there are no jobs around here. Jim
31vickey, you buddy are dead on!!kinda what i was thinkin but had no idea how to put it in words.i just wanted someone who wasnt afraid of work and was honest .couldnt find that one guy so i work on my own stuff now and every once in awhile we will take one on but they are far and few.
It's too bad that the young guy who REALLY wants to learn can't get the opportunity because so many before him have clouded the waters for all. The guy with experience can't get the job because his pay is too much even if it is deserved. I quit having anybody work for me because I just couldn't find anyone who had the same vision as I did. The quality has to be to a minimum level which is set high by myself and my customers. It just seemed I spent more time showing them how to do it than it took me to do it myself. Often I would have to go back and fix something they didn't take the time to do the way I wanted. I had a shipping/packing business in SantaFe and we noticed that after hiring one "friend" that all of the sudden there were almost no cash sales, only credit card sales. Big red flag! She hurt the new business with sticky fingers and poor service that created a bad reputation for a new business that we lost the business and she lost her job.
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