[Uncle Miltie]

I cannot find anyone to man a shovel in my garden for under $20 an hour. I finally did get a kid for $20, he’s 15, and needs a bunch of supervision. If I lose him, my next option is $25, just to dig holes for trees and haul dirt.

[rellic]

Buy a Kubota tractor and attachments. You can always sell it for about what you paid for it.
They don’t depreciate much.

[packagingguy]

A babysitter runs $25/hr.

If someone offers a job for less than that you’re losing money just to work.

I’ve run into this, companies low balling to see if someone will bite.

“We can’t find anybody” is code for “We can’t find anybody who’ll work for our meager wages”.

[oldtech]

This is insane & probably can only get worse. What will a skilled person want? Won’t prices just get more & more out of hand? At the rate they want to go, one thing will just lead to another & I should imagine the economy will just collapse at some point.

[Myrddin]

I have an vertical ham radio antenna that is 27 ft tall. It needs a 6 foot deep hole, 10 inches in diameter to hold a steel post for support. The hole needs to be filled with concrete with the post set perfectly vertical. I've had the antenna and post for 3 years. I tried to hire a fencing company that sinks posts as part of their work. No interest. At almost 70 years old, digging the hole, hauling the sacks of concrete from Lowe's, mixing and pouring it is a tall order. Not to mention the supra celiac aortic aneurysm. I'm probably going to just sell the antenna and 4:1 balun. A disappointing situation.

[MinorityRepublican]

I cannot find anyone to man a shovel in my garden for under $20 an hour.

It's like paying $8 in 1990 due to inflation.

[alexander_busek]

I cannot find anyone to man a shovel in my garden for under $20 an hour. [...] my next option is $25, just to dig holes for trees and haul dirt.

How much would it cost you to do nothing?

To just let the dirt continue lying there?

If it's about, e.g., conforming to HOA codes - where you might be fined thousands of dollars if you fail to perform sufficient landscaping - then you have no option but to either do it yourself, or offer better wages.

If it's about, e.g., esthetics (you simply want to have some gardening done because it looks nice) - then you have an additional option: Ignore it / avert your eyes / develop a thicker skin / spend more time glued to your phone!

Regards,

[Does so]

Plan your landscaping hole-digging needs and rent a Kubota for a (morning-only) rental. Sometimes, a weekend includes a free full day).

Moving dirt after that is much easier. I did that last summer by myself, at 80-y-o.

Also rented a “trencher”. It’s almost fun!

[cyclotic]

We’ve got some friends with an autistic son who needs lots of physical work to do. If he’s not doing anything, he rages out. It’s just part of his disability.

He’s coming over next week to help me with a hole I need dug and getting some leaves raked up. I won’t pay him by the hour because he might see a ladybug and chase it around, but I will pay him fairly.