The great resignation—where is the hired help?

AndyG

AndyG

Because some other guys are perverts
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When did people decide not to work?

When did McDonalds offer $19 per hour to start?

When did companies offer Next Day Pay?

When did states offer $2000.00 to go to work and get off unemployment?

How did we get to the point that people are so terrible at work that we tolerate it- just to have people at work?

I remember when unemployment was a shame like divorce, called “being sorry”.....when people strived for a career, when certain jobs were sought after-

What has happened and where is this going?

I own a small construction business and I don’t even want to get started on the shortage of technical knowledge, let alone just trying to get people to be productive and excited about their craft.

We are doing well and have pretty good employee engagement- but America has a strange new problem- what is causing this?
 
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We were at our local lumber yard yesterday to remind them that they had not given us a quote on a patio door for my sons house that we requested two weeks ago. (like to get these things lined up for rainy days on the farm)
First thing out of the mouth of the person that helped us was a barrage of excuses. I nipped that in the bud quickly with: I haven't stopped working in these last 2 "unprecedented" years, you have a personal choice, either you're going to be part of the problem, or the solution.
He took down our phone number along with the date and time.

Still haven't heard from them 36 hours later.
 
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Farmergreg said:
We were at our local lumber yard yesterday to remind them that they had not given us a quote on a patio door for my sons house that we requested two weeks ago. (like to get these things lined up for rainy days on the farm)
First thing out of the mouth of the person that helped us was a barrage of excuses. I nipped that in the bud quickly with: I haven't stopped working in these last 2 "unprecedented" years, you have a personal choice, either you're going to be part of the problem, or the solution.
He took down our phone number along with the date and time.

Still haven't heard from them 36 hours later.
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People, and businesses, don’t keep their word - and that is really, really bad.
 
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AndyG said:
People, and businesses, don’t keep their word - and that is really, really bad.
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It's October and were supposed to be farming, but its been raining buckets. When it rains I go to my shop desk where I have multiple lists of parts I'm trying to source along with inputs for next years crops and follow up on them yet again.
One of them is getting comical...a specific expansion valve for the AC on a Freightliner, weekly calls on that one since September 9th.
 
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Farmergreg said:
It's October and were supposed to be farming, but its been raining buckets. When it rains I go to my shop desk where I have multiple lists of parts I'm trying to source along with inputs for next years crops and follow up on them yet again.
One of them is getting comical...a specific expansion valve for the AC on a Freightliner, weekly calls on that one since September 9th.
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This year takes the cake doesn’t it? Man it is nuts.
 
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Hell's Bells, I've been retired 4 years now, turn 70 next week, and was offered a job today by a young, mid-30s, go-getter friend with his own diesel business that is swamped. I'd probably be the old-fart shop gopher or equipment hauler.
I'm actually considering.. just to contribute.

Mid-80s you couldn't find a help wanted sign, now you bump your head on one everywhere you go.
 
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NOTNSUV said:
Hell's Bells, I've been retired 4 years now, turn 70 next week, and was offered a job today by a young, mid-30s, go-getter friend with his own diesel business that is swamped. I'd probably be the old-fart shop gopher or equipment hauler.
I'm actually considering.. just to contribute.

Mid-80s you couldn't find a help wanted sign, now you bump your head on one everywhere you go.
Click to expand...

Amen. Where is this going?
 
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pagrey said:
It seems strange doesn't it, what do people you are asking to work say? You are trying to hire people to do work for you right?
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I’m just watching other businesses and noticed the trend- way more concerned about the country and why this is happening than my little outfit-

Right now I need a good framer-we have the rest covered.

My biggest challenge is I have enough people but the learning curve is so long- and the really skilled guys are the competition. Basically in trades the top guys end up being owners and guys that can’t run a job right, manage money, have drug habits or just can’t deliver the client the total package end up working for the guy that can.

Our attendance is good, and I avoid trying to hire new guys because I don’t want to go through all the hassle and rework, nails in water line and headaches that go with it.

I’m redoing a roof next week we had a guy frame and got the pitch wrong in relation to the house- said he didn’t have good drawings- uh, you had the house Fred- your ladder is leaned up against what you were tying into.
 
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L J said:
and the seemingly unending unemployment benefits
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Unemployment insurance has been shown to allow workers to regain higher paying jobs, without they have to get lower paying jobs and the economy suffers. This hasn't changed as far as I know. It isn't unending but I respect the fact that you don't know that.
 
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pagrey said:
Unemployment insurance has been shown to allow workers to regain higher paying jobs, without they have to get lower paying jobs and the economy suffers. This hasn't changed as far as I know.
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A good percentage, if not most, of government handouts are a fraud. This hasn't changed as far as I know.
pagrey said:
It isn't unending but I respect the fact that you don't know that.
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Try to take the time to comprehend what someone has posted before responding.
L J said:
the seemingly unending unemployment benefits
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Two things I have noticed. One, there is not much to work for anymore. If you don't have a job you can get free housing, food, healthcare, cell phone, internet, transportation etc.. So why bother getting up at 6am to make $12/hr. Add that to the rising costs of everything. Hell the average home price here in Dallas is $300k in my suburb it's over $500k. It's defeating to have any goals when the bars are set so high. Second thing I see is vices. All the old ones and some newer ones. Drugs, alcohol, gambling, video games, Facebook and all the like. I had one employee that was gone 2-3 times a month because he would be up all night playing video games. He got tired of being yelled at, so he quit and moved in with his mom. Now he sits at home smokes pot, plays his video games and collects a government check. Another one thought he was a YouTube superstar, and work was not important. He is also now unemployed, and I just got notice last week that he appealed his discharge case with Texas Workforce and they are granting him unemployment benefits. Other people are career students. My neighbor's two 30 year old sons are "still working on their education". Living at home and you guessed it collecting checks.
 
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Just curious for the sake of this conversation, how much are you paying your employees at your construction company?
 
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NOTNSUV said:
Hell's Bells, I've been retired 4 years now, turn 70 next week, and was offered a job today by a young, mid-30s, go-getter friend with his own diesel business that is swamped. I'd probably be the old-fart shop gopher or equipment hauler.
I'm actually considering.. just to contribute.

Mid-80s you couldn't find a help wanted sign, now you bump your head on one everywhere you go.
Click to expand...


I’m not really sure how to explain to you how different 2021 is from the 1980s… but I’ll start with, A LOT.
 
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