anyone experiencing a shortage of skilled labor?

[renosteinke]

"Just shooting the breeze." Maybe THAT's the problem.

Have any here actually looked at job ads lately? Tried finding a job?

For the past several decades, two trends have been growing that I find destructive.

The first is the "fishing expedition' type of job ad. These are ads posted for which the firm has no intention of ever hiring anyone. The firms, at best, are just trolling the waters to see what pops up, or padding their files.

The second is a job description that is so packed with contradictory detail as to make it impossible for there to be any truly qualified applicant. "Must be journeyman welder, brain surgen, and published poet- be willing to travel 90%+, fluent in Uiger and Xhosa, for our plant in Kansas." With the ad placed in the Portland, Maine paper. Either they have a specific person they want to hire, or they have no expectation of hiring anyone. Or, perhaps, they're dancing around illegal discrimination issues.

These two are followed by the third trend I see, something a bit more recent, the type that reads: "Master electrician needed, licenses in multiple jurisdictions, own truck, tools, and ladders, will do the paperwork from your home, for $13/hr." My personal favorites of this type are the ones that also neglect to mention that you'll be stepping right into the middle of a labor dispute.

I had, as a customer, a successful, fairly large plumbing contractor. All his trucks were marked 'now hiring.' He always complained that he couldn't keep good help. He also refused to participate in any apprenticeship programs. Why, he said, should he train guys who would only go work for the competition? Gee, I wondered, just where does he expect the 'trained help' to come from?

Other firms toss in 'spoilers,' things like rotating shifts, excessive overtime, remote locations, etc.- then wonder why they can't find help. They relocate to the middle of the desert (because wages are low), then wonder where all the labor is.

No wonder some just can't find good help.

 

[jmellc]

I see another problem and and expect it to get worse. This is across the board, not just our industry. When I worked in a corporation, they did a lot of downsizing, as many corps did/are doing. Some of that is normal, to be expected. But they went beyond shedding the temps and newer employees that was the norm. They began throwing out career people who had spent their entire adult lives there. These were people who had stuck with them during the worst of times & helped them recover. I knew some who practically lived there, staying late nights & weekends to meet goals. The kids of those people will never have the same level of dedication to anyone that Mom and Dad did, as they saw them get shafted for it in the end.

 

[jmellc]

"Just shooting the breeze." Maybe THAT's the problem.

Have any here actually looked at job ads lately? Tried finding a job?

For the past several decades, two trends have been growing that I find destructive.

The first is the "fishing expedition' type of job ad. These are ads posted for which the firm has no intention of ever hiring anyone. The firms, at best, are just trolling the waters to see what pops up, or padding their files.

The second is a job description that is so packed with contradictory detail as to make it impossible for there to be any truly qualified applicant. "Must be journeyman welder, brain surgen, and published poet- be willing to travel 90%+, fluent in Uiger and Xhosa, for our plant in Kansas." With the ad placed in the Portland, Maine paper. Either they have a specific person they want to hire, or they have no expectation of hiring anyone. Or, perhaps, they're dancing around illegal discrimination issues.

These two are followed by the third trend I see, something a bit more recent, the type that reads: "Master electrician needed, licenses in multiple jurisdictions, own truck, tools, and ladders, will do the paperwork from your home, for $13/hr." My personal favorites of this type are the ones that also neglect to mention that you'll be stepping right into the middle of a labor dispute.

I had, as a customer, a successful, fairly large plumbing contractor. All his trucks were marked 'now hiring.' He always complained that he couldn't keep good help. He also refused to participate in any apprenticeship programs. Why, he said, should he train guys who would only go work for the competition? Gee, I wondered, just where does he expect the 'trained help' to come from?

Other firms toss in 'spoilers,' things like rotating shifts, excessive overtime, remote locations, etc.- then wonder why they can't find help. They relocate to the middle of the desert (because wages are low), then wonder where all the labor is.

No wonder some just can't find good help.

A guy awhile back wanted me to sub for him like that, using my truck, tools, etc. & me pulling most of the permits in my name. But also wanted me to take my signs off my truck, as his customers wanted to "know" that he did all the work with his own people. I said, "well you get the permits and use your people. If I pull permits, my name stays on truck. "

 

[Benton]

Good engineers/electricians aren't expensive -- they're priceless!

I agree with this comment 100%. Everything in our society has been dumbed down. I just read an article today about children in Britain not knowing that they have a name or knowing what their name is. This is not just a British problem, it is a Western problem-particularly America. We use to be the smartest country in the world, and now we are lucky if we place in the top 25. Welfare and Corporate America have destroyed us. They are both one in the same-completly dependent upon someone else. Dumb and lazy that is what we are becoming-pardon my brashness, but what else can you say.