Comments | snousle: A common refrain around here.

snousle

A common refrain around here.

Oct 11, 2012 12:41

Jobs going begging in Willits and Ukiah Valley

(Excerpt from Ukiah Daily JournalWith unemployment still over 9 percent in Mendocino County, some employers are saying they are still having trouble filling the jobs they have available ( Read more... )

Comments 9

h0gwash October 12 2012, 02:01:02 UTC

IMHO employers who complain about not being able to find workers in the best employer market in decades are facing the downward spiral. I think my experience working in a dysfunctional wood flooring factory for the past two years allows me to read between the lines a bit. They can't hire assembly workers, customer service and welding people because those descriptions are not accurate, the hours are 50-60 a week and the pay is less that what neighboring businesses pay for customer service people and welders. The production managers have been alienated from the actual production work for so long they cannot effectively train new hires at competitive rates.

snousle October 12 2012, 03:42:14 UTC

I can totally believe that. Bad management is incredibly expensive and makes workers less valuable. I can well imagine a businessperson floating a non-viable company, calculating what they "can pay" the workers, then complaining that they "can't hire workers" because their lack of managerial skill in conjunction with their balance sheet makes offering an attractive package impossible.

Still, as I mention below, I think this is but one of many factors at work.

fingertrouble October 12 2012, 02:28:17 UTC

I bet they expect employees to arrive ready-trained and perfect to their needs too ( ... )

snousle October 12 2012, 03:37:22 UTC

It is more than unrealistic employer expectations in this area. That may be a factor, but not the whole story. We ourselves have been offering $20/hr, cash, no strings attached work to interested people and having them repeatedly not show up. I realize that this is not a career path, but it's not particularly skilled work, and it's a no brainer for anyone who is unemployed and doesn't have anything better to do. Ergo, they either have something better to do, or they do not have brains ( ... )

h0gwash October 12 2012, 04:05:28 UTC

I think there are big differences between corporations hiring and private citizens hiring for day jobs. If I saw your ad on Craigslist (not THAT ad!!) I would assume it to be a fraud, not unlike many other Craigslist fraud ads.

Could social factors be at work? Might they be afraid of the gossip? Have you picked up day laborers hanging around outside the parking lot at Home Depot quien hablan ingles?

snousle October 12 2012, 04:14:59 UTC

No, the people we hire are by reference. I dont do craigslist or parking lot day labor. I dont sense that anything is wrong, just a general lack of interest. I suppose teh ghey could be a problem but often they come once or twice before wandering off.

(NO THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN!!! LOL)

broduke2000 October 12 2012, 07:34:17 UTC

Rat hired a dude off the street to do gardening. As I recall, it ended up in a extension cord catastrophe, where I had to patch up a partially severed cord.

barbarian_rat October 12 2012, 12:29:00 UTC

As I recall I hired him off the job wanted list at the local JC.
The other one I hired from them didn't show the second day ...

barbarian_rat October 12 2012, 12:36:07 UTC

I know someone who works at OCLI, or whatever it's called now, in Santa Rosa. For the last ten years she has repeatedly stated how hard it is to get people who want to work. My own experience in hiring construction guys, is that many want the money, but don't want to work. As others have stated there are many factors at play here, from dysfunctional employers to dysfunctional job seekers. I wonder how living in a cannabis growing area effects this. Pot makes many people ... inactive.