Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Unemployment is at record highs but the companies my wife, brother, sister and I work at all report they can't find enough qualified candidates for both skilled and unskilled jobs.
Do you believe this is true or is this just a way to convince the feds to let in more cheap immigrants?
We never have enough people who are qualified and also able to do the job. However, my company also pays very little money and doesn't offer any benefits, while requiring a very high level of experience and education.
It's true, Our machine shop has 9 spots that we would like to fill, but we only want the best. We have filled 2 in the last 6 months. We get about 200 apps a month. Only about 7 are qualified and 5 of those usually fail our practical test which includes some basic trig and a multiple choice feeds and speeds and situational scenarios test. Usually one guy that passes doesn't like what we are paying and looks elsewhere, but one guy usually makes it and a few months later he is fired.
Our issues with employees are.
1. Child care issues causing tardiness and excessive time off. People usually give us way more info than we need to know and one of the things we look for is when they ask if we are "flexible."
2. Slow production, not meeting quotas. This is usually caused by excessive smoke/bathroom/computer "research" breaks so we look for non smokers non tobacco users.
3. Junking parts, reading blueprints wrong, simple errors that cost us a lot of money. A little brick of titanium is worth more than we pay the employee to make it. It is illegal to take money from their paychecks so, we have a quota 3 junk parts a month in your second month and you are gone.
We have a core employee base, that are the cream of the crop and are paid well. WE start at $20/hr but most people after 5 or 7 years are making 6 figures easy with overtime. We are willing to pay, but you have to be really good at what you do. You can't be late, and you can't constantly be calling in with child care issues. We all have children, and wives who work, so those excuses don't fly.
I can't speak for other industries/sectors but good Machinists are hard to come by.
Greatest one liner I have ever heard when it comes to tardiness: "Job starts at 8, if you aren't here to start at that time then we start looking for your replacement"
I am not a smoker but had one last year and I was STUNNED at how much time smoking one cigarette took this guy. Needless to say he didn't make the probabtionary period.
New pet peeve of mine is texting/smart phone usage......some folks have a problem for sure. They cannot just ignore it and check it on breaks, it is like a shock collar and they must respond instantly. One guy was getting sports updates, 30 or more an hour. I couldn't believe he was filling his brain with all this nonsense when he was AT WORK! This coach got fired, this player needs surgery, this player signed this deal......WHO CARES! Another guy was great from 7-11am, at 11ish his girlfriend would awake from her beauty sleep and the keyboard clicking began.......all day!
If I apply to a low wage technical job I do a quick application and state that my minimum pay is higher than their ad.
Isn't Racine, WI a very financially depressed area? Job pays $575 a week which is right at 30K a year but in a depressed area that might be a top wage right now. Job did seem a little heavy on requirements though for that pay rate.
I work in Special Education, specifically with students with emotional and behavioral disorders. The school district I work for has no trouble finding qualified candidates to fill Special Ed positions, but hanging onto them is a different story. Special Education is a tough field and many just can't deal with it. So there's a lot of turnover in our district and in the Special Education field in general. So to answer your question, we don't have much trouble finding qualified candidates, but they tend to not stay very long. If you're one of the lucky ones who are able to make it in this field, you're pretty much set for life because of how difficult it is to retain employees long term.
I don't know your age but $20 is pretty good to start especially if you're 22 and fresh out of college with a company you have never worked for we pay time and a half overtime as well. I don't care if they were making $40 an hour at a unionized defense contractor. It's a new era. They are more than welcome to keep getting that $340 a week unemployment or burn through their savings if $20/hr is beneath them. Oh and just so you know, Boeing pays $16.75-$21.50hr in Seattle for a starting machinist and they are union. There are different levels of machinist too, most places have a scale that goes by longevity and experience. And you're right these old timers want $40 an hour and to be honest they aren't worth it, and they never were. It's simple economics, why pay a 50 year old with health problems $40 dollars/hr to gripe and complain about everything, when you can get a 22 year old for a fraction of the cost that is healthy and you can mold.
I'm 28. When I was 22 I was working for just under $20 an hour as a department manager at a home improvement store after quitting my management job that I had since High School. That was a super easy job too, and they worked around my college classes. There's no way I would have taken a machine job at that point since I had much better options and I've never worked for a union.
As for Boeing, I'd take a slightly lower pay to be at a company like that because there is always an opportunity for advancement. Not so at a locally owned or family shop. Basically, you're stuck for life unless someone dies or retires and their position opens up. I know people who have been at the same shop in the same position for years making slightly more than they started because there's just nowhere to go in the company.
Luckily, my skills are in demand for the most part and I can pick where I wanted to go and I chose the east coast. I'm offered the ability to turn down jobs I don't want and I do so quite often.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,572 posts, read 81,167,557 times
Reputation: 57803
I have had some trouble finding qualified people for jobs that pay about $25/hour, but foreign immigrants wouldn't help. We are in a somewhat specialized field and with the experience required (3 years) there are not that many people that fit. One opening I had to re-announce after interviewing 15 of 34 applicants, another we interviewed 10 of 40 and only one was suitable, luckily he accepted our offer and has worked out great.
My dept is having a hard time finding technical applicants with some SQL skills.
It's more difficult during the holidays. SQL people always seem to be in demand. We had a few resumes and 1 interview. They were asked to make a change to a simple database of 10 rows. They normally "google for the answer at their last company" is their response. Better luck in the future, buddy. Resume was pure BS about 10 years of experience.
These positions pay $70-85k in a low cost of living area. That's pretty good money for 4-5 years experience.
Heh...I'm a DB programmer, 7 years of experience, and I wouldn't even interview for that salary unless I was desperate. Then again, I kick butt at what I do.
My company is in a constant war to attract and keep software devs. We pay fair enough (most are 100kish positions) but its just so cutthroat out there to hold on to talented people.
Heh...I'm a DB programmer, 7 years of experience, and I wouldn't even interview for that salary unless I was desperate. Then again, I kick butt at what I do.
It's for a reporting position not programming. I am sure that's average for a reporting analyst for 4-5 years exp not a programmer with 7 yrs exp. It's just a select query. It's a very simple task for $85k. I am sure that a DB programmer starts at 6 figures.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
