Posted on 04/16/2014 7:27:17 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Every month, the New York Fed conducts two surveys: the Empire State Manufacturing Survey and its services-sector counterpart, the Business Leaders Survey. And each April it asks respondents of both surveys questions related to the difficulty of finding potential hires with certain skills.
This year's pair of April surveys confirmed that, as in previous years, employers are having trouble finding people with advanced computer and interpersonal skills, punctuality, and reliability.
Further, businesses in both the manufacturing and services sectors report that it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain skilled workers.
Below are the two key tables from the survey. The first shows that 36% of businesses in the manufacturing sector that responded to the survey are having moderate difficulty finding workers who are punctual and reliable, while 11% report great difficulty in finding workers with those traits. In the services sector, it's not as bad — 22% of respondents report moderate difficulty finding punctual, reliable workers, whereas only 3% report great difficulty.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
...and at (well) below market wages.
Several years ago, I interviewed at a CPA firm, and compensation was brought up in the first interview (pretty much a no-no with me, unless there's a bona fide job offer presented).
The interview ended shortly after I said, "I'm willing to work overtime, but not if it mean working 60 hours a week for 40 hours of pay."
Doing what, exactly?
We had this job posted everywhere for a year and got no serious applicants.
I'm not a fan of PHP -- It's far too sloppy a language for any serious business-use [IMO], and having had to write SW that dealt w/ medical and insurance records in it was not fun.
Spoke with someone from a company with a plant in western Maryland who told me 2/3 of their applicants can’t pass a pre-employment drug screen.
Businesses having trouble retaining skilled workers?
Maybe they should try treating them better?
IMO too many employers, knowing jobs are hard to come by, in this wonderful, “fully-recovered” economy, treat employers poorly, asking a lot for little pay.
And treat them like toilet paper.
I know of a couple cases:
case 1: employee’s supervisor had personality and people skills to match his breath. He hired, fired and treated employees with such disrespect and abuse, he was generally dispised and feared. Company owners did not see this side of him as far as employees could tell. To them, he kissed *ss. To the employees he was routinely abusive. To the extent one fired employee finally sued the Company and won a large settlement against the owner, who approved the actions of the abusive supervisor and was full aware of the abuse going on. Good employees either left when they could find another job, or hunkered down and endured the abuse if they could, hoping the abusive supervisor, who was also unqualified in job knowledge and skills, would in time, leave.
Finally, a larger company bought this company and cleaned house, and installed competent managers. And things got better for the survivors and a number of those who had left, came back.
Case 2: A Chinese restaurant (btw, did you know a number of Chinese restaurants have Mexicans for cooks and kitchen help? Cheaper than Chinese, but the Chinese are the waiters so customers assume so are the cooks). A middle aged Chinese woman worked at this Chinese restaurant as dish washer and kitchen help for years. The owners, reduced her hours from 40 hours, to 14 hours, later to 7 hours per week and finally told her she was permanently laid off. The Chinese worker was a hard and reliable worker and worked for years, but never got a raise...just minimum wage. The owners were very cheap...paid a Chinese cook minimum wage as well. Knowing the local economy offered little choice to workers. So, this business rewarded years of loyalty and hard work with a kick in the teeth. Did it to other workers too.
Employers expect loyalty but do not feel they need to show any themselves, knowing there are so many unemployed and underemployed, they can get cheaper workers. This restaurant btw, cheated on taxes by paying at least one cook part in cash (under the table pay) and part in official wages.
Nice folks all.
Small wonder employees have problems showing loyalty and reliability to employers.
They just need the proper wake up call. My first real job was for a boss who not only wanted punctuality, he wanted you to be early. (no he was not Tom Coughlin). During my first month I was 10 minutes late one day and the senior VP ushered me into his office. Asked what the problem was which I stated I had over slept. He called me over to his wondow and from that vantage point we could see a bunch of people milling about. He said they are looking for your job. There was a recession in the early 60’s. I said, I get the message and no I will not be late again. Not there, not anywhere.
I retired early because of Obamacare. My brother who is a slumlord has almost 0 income on paper but is actually wealthier than us. We can’t hide our income. He got ill and went to our county hospital where they signed him up for ‘insurance’ at no cost because of his income. He has a very expensive to treat uncurable condition. When he called me bragging about it I retired the next day. Said I wasn’t gonna pay for his Obamacare.
I haven’t looked back and couldn’t be happier. We still pay huge taxes but they are getting a much smaller check at the end of the year now. ;)
Good story. I have always been one to be early, but worked at a job some years ago, for which one of the employees was chronically late. This was frowned upon, of course, but the only penalty was people frowning about it. She decided to turn over a new leaf and try to be on time more. After she had been on time for 8 out of 10 days in a 2 week period, the boss went all nuts making a big deal about how wonderful she was. Man, was I PISSED about that.
“Businesses will, however, continue targeting their older employees for forced retirement or layoff.”
Agreed. Which in most cases makes no sense to me, especially if they get “replaced” with people who know nothing, do nothing, don’t care, and don’t show up.
You also lose the longer-term perspective and end up reinventing the wheel, which wouldn’t be the worse thing to happen, except you end up reinventing the even greater number of flat tires.
I see this in operation all the time. I think the recent disastrous activities at Microsoft is a quintessential example of foolish children (Ballmer’s Brats)running the asylum, namely the horrifically awful cell-phone interface (aka Windows 8) Microsoft tried to foist on very PC in the world, their repeated, failed attempts at tablets and phones, their failed attempts at totally controlling Xbox One users, and driving developers away in droves to Android and iOS, which probably their most damaging move because this diminishes the ONLY reason anyone ever really buys Windows in the first place, namely that’s where all the software runs.
20 minutes late for planned non-emergency televised speeches is almost always within a minute or two.
Why would anyone show up for work when welfare pays $30,000 a year?
Uh huh. Let me guess. “Requires extensive experience in all of the following: ABC.1, MumboJumbo Ver 3, DEFG Protocol Package, BlungeScript, XYZZY 2.3 or later, Java Lotus Framework with Security Package 3, Wifi 802.11, Mil-Spec 3.376, HTMLTP TimeWaster 5.0, Leibnitz Protocol Development System...”
All the hipster programmers want to work whenever they please as well. Come in at 10-11 and stay to 8-9. They get about 3 hours of face time with experienced coders and wonder why their latest “I got it from a blog” doesn’t work.
Late husband had 30 yrs in 2 way radio electronics, he was a trouble shooter, who was sent all over the US to iron out issues local shops could not.
At 54 when the business he worked for folded, as cells were starting to replace 2 ways, he applied for job
s all over the country. Pay beginners wages, and you pay moving expenses. Those jobs got turned down. You want 30 yrs experience PAY FOR IT!
Youngest son works in a factory, he is in the minority. He works his butt off, they loaf, on the phone, he ends up with their goofs to fix. He gets the pay raises twice what they get. Unless he is truly sick he does not take time off, except vacation time. Loafer minorities are always missing days, or goofing off on the job. Even come in hung over, drunk, or go out to car to take a hit of pot.
Then they wonder why they don’t rise in the company or get a good pay raise.
I’ve offered to put him threw welding school, he spot welds now and has fork lift opp. license. But he does not want the GED end of it. This is a hard working kid, who has always HATED school of any kind. Preferring hands on learning. But he is always on time, does all OT, and stays late if required. He WORKS. Just should have better education for better job, to go with the drive to work.
You can lead a horse to water as the saying goes.
From my experience, basic interpersonal skills, ethics, motivation are severely lacking among Americans. This leaves a big wide opening for non-native-born-Americans to come here, practice those skills, and succeed on the job.
Coming here to do the jobs that many Americans don’t know how to do.
The truth hurts. Get used to it.
Most recent job I quit, 85% of applicants failed the drug test. All the more reason for employers to try and retain their non-druggie hires.
“Note to employers: you get as good as you give.”
I’m sure there’s a lot of truth to that, and the shoe fits the other foot as well. As an employer, I have hired literally tens of dozens of people to get 3 good people in 30 years. The work force in this country has a poor attitude about what it takes to be good employees, which will earn them a decent day’s wages for a decent day’s efforts. Most employees do not care if the company they work for succeeds until they see it close up because it cannot remain profitable.
My son is looking for work, and is doing temp work at the present. He was one of 16 people hired to arrange seats for a concert at the local university. The agency needed to fill five positions, and that was all that showed up. So 5 out of 16 hires come to work when they are out of work at the present?
That’s pathetic!
He sounds like a great kid to me! I worked at Barnes & Noble last year and I was happily surprised at how many young American kids (black and white) were so hard-working. Most of them had two jobs. Work, work, work, that’s all they did, and generally with a smile on their faces. Our kids get a bad rap!
For us, it has come down to being able to eliminate 95% of the problem candidates by focusing our attention on ones who grew up outside the United States.
Well, of course, it’s a two way street. Always was, always will be.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.