Struggle Finding New Employees.

[Milland]

Update 9 days later

That guy quit so he can go back to a low paying job. Even stated he will miss the hours and pay.


You just can't fix stupid.

Well, if you ever do find out how to fix it, please let us know! Whole lotta stupid going on, and a cure would be nice...

 

[alek95]

Update 9 days later

That guy quit so he can go back to a low paying job. Even stated he will miss the hours and pay.


You just can't fix stupid.

I think some people just enjoy mind-numbing work. They like being able to just turn off their brain while at work.

 

[YoDoug]

I haven't read through every post here, but my suggestion to the OP is if you can't find employees and you are running job shop type, non-production work, can you invest in technology to make your current employees more productive. Where are your bottlenecks, what are your most time consuming tasks, etc? Can new or addition software, tooling, etc. help improve productivity? Would new CAM software enable faster programming and the use of better tooling and cutting strategies? Simulation software, Vericut, etc? Probing?

 

[Micmac1]

I haven't read through every post here, but my suggestion to the OP is if you can't find employees and you are running job shop type, non-production work, can you invest in technology to make your current employees more productive. Where are your bottlenecks, what are your most time consuming tasks, etc? Can new or addition software, tooling, etc. help improve productivity? Would new CAM software enable faster programming and the use of better tooling and cutting strategies? Simulation software, Vericut, etc? Probing?

Funny that you went down this worm hole, actually we are currently looking into most of the above that you mentioned. I was at a implempenting robots in the job shop environment event last week, which basically talked about running longer run jobs lights out with a robot and using the same machines for one offs during the day....interesting idea, however a lot of variables to consider. Currently we run new version of CamWorks but only 3axis mill and 2 axis lathe, so looking into multi axis mill and lathe to reduce setups and downtime. All of our 3D surfacing is done through Fusion, so adding that to CamWorks and using only one Cam package may help a bit. Out biggest bottle neck are the 5-10 setup onesy twosey castings that have alot of features and tons of setup....but no robot will ever fix that, so really adding another employee would be the best solution if possible. Our tooling is top of the line stuff, were a job shop with ALOT of emuge tooling, which you dont see often. Also lot of new Mari stuff from Frank. All of our mills have probes, however all of our lathes (2 axis cnc's) do not have either probe or tool setter, all touched off manually, so this is another place we can look into optimizing for faster setups.

 

[jccaclimber]

I think some people just enjoy mind-numbing work. They like being able to just turn off their brain while at work.

In my brief time on a landscaping crew we had an ex army grunt that just really hated having to think for himself or make decisions. Fortunately he had a strong back and followed directions. If you told him to dig a hole he was happy as a clam. Probably could have pulled a Cool Hand Luke and had him fill it back in and he still would have been happy. No job too dirty, too hard, or too boring, and he did them well. On the other hand if you told him to select the right shovel (there were only two types), he was all sorts of unhappy because that involved making a decision. I didn’t understand his view, but he was pretty easy to work with once you knew how to handle him. I wouldn’t have him do tool and die, but it’ll bet he’d have been good at deburring.

 

[William Payne]

In my brief time on a landscaping crew we had an ex army grunt that just really hated having to think for himself or make decisions. Fortunately he had a strong back and followed directions. If you told him to dig a hole he was happy as a clam. Probably could have pulled a Cool Hand Luke and had him fill it back in and he still would have been happy. No job too dirty, too hard, or too boring, and he did them well. On the other hand if you told him to select the right shovel (there were only two types), he was all sorts of unhappy because that involved making a decision. I didn’t understand his view, but he was pretty easy to work with once you knew how to handle him. I wouldn’t have him do tool and die, but it’ll bet he’d have been good at deburring.

I imagine in the army it would be beaten into you to just do as instructed. So not surprising that people in the army who do well may be that kind of person. Like Forrest in Forrest Gump, just did what he was told.

 

[engheads]

Wow. I found this thread fascinating and terrifying. I’m a EE with 40 years in national security about to retire. I have lathe and mill for tinkering. I would work just to learn. Every field suffers from the same problems, youth who feel entitled and don’t understand individual responsibility. BTW the ancient Greeks and romans had the same problem. This is one reason the famous Irish restaurant has gone to automated kiosks for ordering and payment.

 

[Inferno]

I'm looking for a new job but nowhere near Massachusetts so don't think I'm trying to get a hob with you.
I will say that one of the things potential employees HATE most is no salary range in an ad. And second is that, seeing a salary range that's so wide, the applicant will know that it's a ploy to hire at the lowest rate.

Times have changed a lot. Why work as a laborer for $20 when you can work fast food for $18 (around here)?
Having said that, I've been having good luck with LinkedIn. They aren't listing salaries but the call backs I have received have been stating the salary range right off the bat.

I avoid Indeed. The job descriptions are almost always inflated and they aren't vetting any of the ads placed. As an example, I applied for a position as a program manager and ended up walking into a pyramid scheme. I left abruptly.

 

[DanASM]

Times have changed a lot. Why work as a laborer for $20 when you can work fast food for $18 (around here)?
Having said that, I've been having good luck with LinkedIn. They aren't listing salaries but the call backs I have received have been stating the salary range right off the bat.

Because as a laborer on a job site you can learn a lot more usefull skills and have lots of opportunities to be promoted and earn higher wages in the near future.

At a fast food joint, you will be surrounded by people in bad moods, be rushed constantly, and not have room for further career advancements.

Quality of life would be way better as a laborer (temporarily)

 

[Mebfab]

I went to school with a kid. He dropped out in 11th grade. Worked at taco bell. he owns 3 now. Doing great for himself.

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

Several ads running in my area right now for farm laborers at $16 per hour, the county is looking for an airport manager, they are offering $21 per hour, but its part-time and they only guarantee 10 hours a week

 

[alek95]

Wow. I found this thread fascinating and terrifying. I’m a EE with 40 years in national security about to retire. I have lathe and mill for tinkering. I would work just to learn.

You have 40 years as an EE, you can afford to work for free to learn because at the minimum, you should have a paid off house, paid off cars, and half a million in your 401k (unless you were dumb all these years).

Someone who is fresh out of high-school or college doesn't have the luxury of working for free in these modern times. You probably wouldn't understand.

 

[michiganbuck]

A good work record and good work ethic can make one on tap for $30 to $50+ an hour. Hold the start job as you apply for a good job.

 

[Milland]

I went to school with a kid. He dropped out in 11th grade. Worked at taco bell. he owns 3 now. Doing great for himself.

If he doesn't have a hotdog cart, he's missing out on the real money.

 

[Inferno]

The problems are more than one so we can't really point to a single cause but if I were to point to one, it would be greed.

We used to have a society where a single wage earner could support a family of five and buy a house, car and nobody went hungry.
Then more second parents started working to "get ahead" and there's nothing wrong with that. The problem that started was that people would take lower wages because they didn't "need" the full pay.
And employers started being able to hire employees for less to do the same job.

(I know it's not that simple)

And those employers started realizing more profits. When they had more profits, they could afford to compete with others by simply lowering their prices. Which created more business which required more low paid workers. And that set the stage for low pay because companies couldn't compete by paying a really decent wage. So they started paying people less.

Move forward a few decades and a person spends more time working for less money than they did a few decades ago.

We have eliminated the middle class through a lot of different mechanics. Eliminating the middle class was a big mistake because we ended up with the wealthy ruling the masses.

It will take a huge catastrophe for a possible reset. We know we can't get there through policy alone.

 

[CAMasochism]

As an example, I applied for a position as a program manager and ended up walking into a pyramid scheme. I left abruptly.

Ah come on, you can't just say something like that and not expand upon it. How do you get a pyramid scheme in for a program manager? I would have wanted to fuck with them too badly.

 

[michiganbuck]

QT: (We used to have a society where a single wage earner could support a family of five and buy a house, and car and nobody went hungry.
It will take a huge catastrophe for a possible reset. We know we can't get there through policy alone.)

In a market economy, an average family will make just enough.
Some will do well with that much...and some will do poorly.
Anyone who thinks a government-mandated wage rate can make working people wealthy, or even better off is just kidding himself.
If the mandated wage was made $100 an hour after a short time 100 bucks would be worth 10 bucks....where a decent cup of coffee would cost 20 dollars.

Mc Donalde's pay of about 14 and up with college assistance ($2,500 in Tuition Assistance each year) is very good pay if intending to go to college ..but not so good if intending to make a career of it.
Wanting enough to support a family flipping burgers is a foolish notion

 

[Maxim]

I've heard how burger fillping is a dishonorable profession from older generations my whole life, but who in America will admit to not liking burgers?

The richest economy in the world was built using massive economic protectionism (50%+ percent tariff was the norm), sound money directed towards productive and not speculative purposes, and a people unified in purpose.

$14/ an hour is barely making it and sorry, college is more like $25,000+ a year.

 

[Inferno]

I did my time flipping burgers. I really liked it. I don't know why people dog on it so much.

 

[michiganbuck]

QT: ($14/ an hour is barely making it and sorry, college is more like $25,000+ a year.)

MC dee's $2500 is a big portion of the costs to go to a community college commuting from home and parents helping with living costs.
I know a few young adults doing that.
Thinking the paper boy(girl) and burger flippers should make big money is not a good plan..likely that is the norm in North Korea where everybody makes poor money.
looks like a machinist makes about 25 dollars a week in North Korea..
We need to become communist so wages are fair for everybody...Not.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/destinations/asia/this-is-the-koryo-burger-the-only-food-item-served-on-north-koreas-state-airline/news-story/b11ddd15a3faa493d37015cb9fe9d996