Struggle Finding New Employees.

[Freedommachine]

have you posted on here, you find the best guys in the weirdest places

I did. The shop I work for is offering a recruitment bonus for any employee that recommends someone who gets hired for a hourly position. I haven't gotten any replies from guys here though.

 

[Milland]

He is referring to union prevailing wage jobs out near boston. You can be a laborer on state jobs, based on location. Prevailing wage in boston is $55. So if you work for a company as a entry level laborer that does highway construction, minimum wage in this case would be $55, minus union dues etc of course.

Good grief, really? I used to work in the Cambridge area for decades, and I don't remember hearing of such high pay. Now, I've been mostly NH for ~20yrs, so doubtless things have changed, but that's silly high pay for basic labor...

 

[Maxim]

If a job doesn't at least pay enough for a home, car and steak every night why bother?

Everyone complaining about how they can't find anyone doesn't want to address that in the last 10-15 years a home has gone up 10x, cars and steak maybe 2-4x. Job security is a joke and too many managers think their employees are serfs who they can treat as such. If the wages you are offering haven't improved as much as your home price in the last 15 years maybe you shouldn't complain about the workers.

What we have is a nation wide strike only alleviated through massive offshoring and importation of 500k+ work visa holders and God only knows how many illegals.

 

[BluishInventor]

problem is today nobody is willing to train people who don't have experience. that is the Archille's heel. How does anyone expect to gain experience if they want to learn without being taught........

I think the caveat here is the word 'train'.

@Micmac1 mentioned in the previous post to yours that 1 out of 10 from trade school might work out. That they think they know everything, yada yada.

So, you really can't train someone who thinks they know everything.

And like you said, the key is finding someone who is willing to learn. A more successful way to train is to actually coach. Coaching is more of guiding them to the answer rather than handing them the solution and then explaining why. People tend to remember the solutions if they solve the problem on their own. It's a continuous process that encompasses their entire time at the company. Training is more of a one shot deal, like sending someone to a class. Establishing mentors who are great coaches is vital to shop culture and growth. Which also helps forge new coaches for the future generations.

In regards to the original topic of struggling to find good help, word of mouth has helped us a ton. It's not a fast process, but like minded people are good at finding like minded people. We also use a staffing agency to help find people, and while that's not cheap, it works. We are rather picky, so that slows things down quite a bit. Just make sure you make your qualifications clear as a pre-filter. Add an exception for people with a desire to learn who have mechanical aptitude.

The last machinist/programmer we hired had moved shops several times, staying no longer than a year and half. Red flag for some, but we saw the potential in his skill set, saw that he was self driven, and bet on the speculation that he was probably hopping shops because of a lack of challenge or just plain boredom. He's been here for 8 months and has been taking on challenging work and absolutely crushing it. A little coaching here and there to explain the why's of some of our processes combined with an us having open ear for process improvements from his perspective keeps the fire stoked. There are big Space related shops in the area that do pay more(probably 20% more than what he's making with options) but he came here and has stayed here. So, it's not always about money.

 

[Doug]

It seems like there are labor shortages wherever I go. In retirement my son and I have a construction business, we can't find enough employees. We start inexperienced laborers at $25/hour.

The body shop doing repair on my car added three weeks to my completion date because they're short handed. Our plumbing supplier doesn't have the experienced guys at the counter anymore. The grocery store has longer lines. Seattle police department is down 500 officers because they can't replace them. It just seems to go on and on, everybody is looking for workers and yet the unemployment rate is at an all time low.

 

[DanASM]

He is referring to union prevailing wage jobs out near boston. You can be a laborer on state jobs, based on location. Prevailing wage in boston is $55. So if you work for a company as a entry level laborer that does highway construction, minimum wage in this case would be $55, minus union dues etc of course.

Non Union jobs with no drug testing requirement. Any job that originates from the state and all sub contractors underneath have to get this rate.

My Landlord does these jobs from time to time, but then struggles to get the employees to show up for regular paying work. So he stays away from them altogether.

Prevailing Wage Program

Hotline: (617) 626-6953, Email: [email protected]

www.mass.gov

 

[charlie gary]

My current job, the one before this and some I've interviewed for all came about because I have a Linkedin profile that caught the eyes of recruiters.

 

[jaguar36]

If you want experienced help and you can't get people, you're either not paying enough or you're not getting the word to the right people. The only place you'll find experienced people is at your competitors. Presumably you know who those are, find out who works there and make them an offer.

 

[Micmac1]

If you want experienced help and you can't get people, you're either not paying enough or you're not getting the word to the right people. The only place you'll find experienced people is at your competitors. Presumably you know who those are, find out who works there and make them an offer.

I agree 100% with getting the word out, obviously based on our experience and feedback here, indeed is probably not the platform. As far as pay goes, if someone is worth the "big bucks", i can usually tell within the first 2 minutes of a conversation if they are the real deal....and its been a while since we have come across one.

 

[Milland]

Non Union jobs with no drug testing requirement. Any job that originates from the state and all sub contractors underneath have to get this rate.

My Landlord does these jobs from time to time, but then struggles to get the employees to show up for regular paying work. So he stays away from them altogether.

Wow, I'm out of touch on MA state policy...

 

[ttrager]

We have been struggling finding new employees, specifically machinists for our shop since beginning of the pandemic. We use indeed mostly for our job postings, have not had great luck with craigslist or facebook adds. Our benefits, salary etc, are in line and even above most of the other locally posted jobs as far as benefits, time off and salary. The majority of our current employees have been here for over 10 years. So employee retention has never been a problem. Has anyone found other platforms to be more or less successful when posting jobs? We try to hire experienced guys, who do not need training, but its looking like this is becoming harder and harder to come across.

IMO too many incentives have been thrown out there by our government for people to not work. About 2 years ago I think it was a couple of young fellows were laid off for a little while. People kept in touch though, and when they came back the story was they were making as much or more in government hand outs than working.

We had an applicant just this past year who showed up for the interview, did the walk through, accepted the job, then showed up the day before his first day to get Orientation Training out of the way. He also brought his tools so I could log those into our calibration system and he'd pick them up from me the next morning when he clocked in.

No show, no call. The guy disappeared. The owner kept trying to get ahold of him. Eventually the owner got ahold of his Mother asking if he was ok. Said her son had family issues pop up with his wife. Owner finally, after two or three weeks gets ahold of the guy. Offers to work with him, still give him a job, just make sure to NOT be a no-show no-call. Guy commits to showing up the next Monday.

No call, no show. And I still have his bag of tools with roughly $400 worth inside it.

Punch Line: A few months later the same dude calls us again and tries to apply for a job.

All guess work on our part, we aren't psychic. But the theory is, he's milking the system to continue with whatever unemployment he's receiving. Haven't been on unemployment in a great, long while, but my recollection is you have to periodically show proof you are at least attempting to find a job.

In the end I think a good portion of the problem is the government has incentivized NOT going to work. I could be wrong here, but that's my sense.

 

[BluishInventor]

In the end I think a good portion of the problem is the government has incentivized NOT going to work. I could be wrong here, but that's my sense.

My wife worked with a physical therapy company that laid folks off due to the pandemic. The had the extra 'pandemic' money for a time, but I don't think that is still going on as I heard that those funds expired along with the unemployment benefits altogether as they were on them for too long.

Unemployment doesn't pay a whole heck of a lot here in WA and is dependent on what you've made previously. So, it may depend on what the state benefits are in your area.

The last time I was on unemployment in 2010(laid off because recession), i had to apply to at least 3 jobs a week, and if I turned down an offer I had to explain why. At that time i was getting like 5-600/week after taxes and my rent was free due to living with family. Not a bad income, only lasted 6 months. You can get extensions, but I never went through that process.

I wouldn't say the government is incentivizing people. I would say people just don't want to work in general. There are a plethora of reasons why. One being social media has quite the anti-work movement going on that makes working look like ultimate enemy and anything over 40hrs is ridiculous and "why can't we be like Norway with free healthcare and a 4 day work week at 32 hrs and still make the same?!" Pair that with sky high education costs and the lack of pensions and expensive home costs, sure makes for a depressing outlook on the future. And social media is a constant reminder of all of that if you happen to be in that echo chamber of depression.

The internet is a wonderful, infinite, and horribly corrupting beautiful thing. But it needs to evolve to better humanity or die, IMO. You can find confirmation bias for anything if you look for it. And the publicly acceptable platforms of browsing content have all been deeply curated to manipulate your emotional response just like catch phrase news headlines, subconsciously altering advertisements, and that stupid 'JG Wentworth 1-800-CASH NOW' that gets pounded into everyone's brain. We played ourselves folks with the excuse of 'just trying to get ahead'.

I believe it will fix itself though. It always seems to do that. But for now we have to deal with people who don't want to work because that's where we're at in the process. Being a production machinist isn't an identity that people align with, it just puts food on the table. Being a creative craftsman that can make cool stuff is. This is where I give a ton of respect to Titan. Not for his machining videos I see right through, but for his ability to get people excited about making cool stuff that they didn't know they could do. Getting folks from rock bottom and giving them skills to make rocket engine parts from a raw chunk of metal.

Are you just needing someone to do tedious and boring work or do you want a team player that can help you build the baddest machine shop ever?

 

[DDoug]

WA state um-employment amounts doo not equal all other states.

 

[Mr. Atoz]

There is nothing new about this problem. I have been doing this 40 plus years, and it has always been difficult to hire good people, skilled or unskilled.

 

[BluishInventor]

WA state um-employment amounts doo not equal all other states.

Right, that's why I mentioned "So, it may depend on what the state benefits are in your area.".

 

[DDoug]

Right, that's why I mentioned "So, it may depend on what the state benefits are in your area.".

Yes, but that difference is very high.

FWIW last summer, the local news reported that the NY state foodstamp program hit a record.
Family of (4) and IIRC $70k income received $950 a month just for food.

 

[BluishInventor]

Yeah, I have no idea about foodstamp benefits. Been fortunate in that department.

I was just making the point that the intention of the government program is to alleviate hardships, not incentivize. Do people take advantage of the system? Definitely. People take advantage of every system they can. Some are more honest than others, but no one is completely honest.

 

[ttrager]

There is nothing new about this problem. I have been doing this 40 plus years, and it has always been difficult to hire good people, skilled or unskilled.

The problem isn't new. The prevalence and magnitude since COVID is. IMO.

 

[Micmac1]

Are you just needing someone to do tedious and boring work or do you want a team player that can help you build the baddest machine shop ever?

Although we do have some "boring jobs" time to time, eg. nitrided pins, simple bushings, etc. We also do alot of difficult one off jobs, made to order materials and castings, big dollar materials and our customer's (mostly land and sea power gen work), come to us to do the stuff that they feel is important. So yes, there is some boring work, which i feel most places have those simple bread and butter type jobs, however the job itself with what we do can be incredibly rewarding to see done at the end of the day. We do jobs that some of the biggest names in the business won't and in some cases could not and failed to do, and we do it well. We do what others won't. So I do feel if its a person who really loves this trade and being challenged and enhancing their skills, this really is a great place to be.

 

[Mebfab]

Fundamentally many other trades/lines of work pay the same or better then machining for less actual talent. And many more pay almost as much for way way less talent.

For every shop offering a few positions at $35 an hour, 10 offer $15 for virtually unlimited numbers of spots. A local shop came through. Said "you have to work here for a long time and be really really good to earn anywhere near $35K a year with us.

So all you guys convinced the government is just handing out paychecks to stay home, those programs are long over. This trades reputation has gotten so bad in the eyes of the younger generation (if they even know it exists at all) that all you will attract are the screw ups, stumblef**cks, and assorted mouth breathers (who may be on some court order or such, a tiny handfull of those exist) who are left after harbor freight ($15.50 an hour), Aldis ($18) and target ($13-14) vacuums them all up.

And dont forget, child care is so expensive its cheaper to have 1 person stay home and watch the kids then buy a second car and put them in day care so you can go work. Add to that all the money from baby boomers selling the house and moving into the kids spare room. Or better yet, rent it out to a friend! I am seeing spare rooms in my area renting for 700-1000 a month.