Craig Moore said: Same situation way up here on the banks of Lake Superior. Being a college town we never had an issue with help until the last few years. I only hire kids that want to work part time around their class schedule in the fall but the work ethic of these young folks has gone way down hill. As soon as school starts 3/4 of them go back on their word and bail. They get these overage student loan checks that not only pay for their classes/rent/food but also pays for their drinking and sleeping in - I know because they brag about it to my good core staff members.
All of the other applicants I have received this year are unemployable with no references or convicted wife beaters. Both of which I will not hire.
Sad situation these days - Thank God for my core staff members that come back every year.
Our work load really increase in late August but we get it done.
Good Luck
Well I remember quite a few years ago when I took Econ 101 and they taught us that at 5% unemployment, anybody who wanted a job had one. That means we are competing for the dregs of the remaining jobless population. I am not of the opinion that young people won't work, it's just that they have more choices I think and they won't do this sort of work. I know my kids work hard, I think we are just at that point where those people who are willing to work hard are already working.
The demographic is a bit skewed down here as well. We have depended for years on a reliable force of immigrant labor, mostly illegal. I used to be able to just spread the word among the crew that I was hiring and I would have at least one guy waiting for me the next day. Now that we are required to hire only legal labor that pool of labor has to go elsewhere. The other thing is that construction is booming and the guys I'm after can get $16 an hour and 60 hours a week working as a construction laborer.
There are unintended consequences to every political action and the push to punish illegals has resulted in a labor shortage here. I am personally against using illegal labor, I think it lowers wages for everyone, including me but the consequences are that you have to pay more for a shrinking labor pool. Unfortunately, paying more is a problem.
I keep hearing people talk about how rough the economy is and wages have definitely not kept up, but if the unemployment rate is any indication of the health of the economy, I would have to say that it's doing pretty well right now.
How that affects the elections, I don't know....
In the meantime, I have had 2 more no shows for appointments to fill out applications and I am of the opinion that if you can't be bothered to be on time for an appointment with me, I can't use you. I would rather have no one than a lousy someone. I will wait for the snowbirds to come back and see if I can hire a retiree, those guys always show up.
Regards,
Steve