How is your economy?

I just posted an ad for a new employee. In two days I have had 4 responses, only two of which are worthy of a follow up. The previous attempt two months ago got 3 and none were followed up. Two years ago I would have received 30 to 50 resumes. This is for a pretty good job paying 22 to 25 dollars an hour for a skilled labourer. . But I can't compete with the Alberta oil patch where you get 28 to 35 with all the overtime you can handle at double time.

Busier than berk.

I'm a machinist, in a small job shop. I just counted the days, and I've worked 23 of the past 26 days. By Friday, that will be 29/32. I'll likely work next weekend, as well as the following M-F, bringing that amount higher. I like the OT, but I'm berkeleying tired.

It seems like people who have jobs are far less interested in taking the risk of starting over somewhere else.

I've also noticed that for many industries, after an employee has gained some expertise - which often involves a job change or 2 - they come to the realization that anyplace they work will likely be E36 M3, so they stick with the big steaming pile they're most familiar with.

Also, depending on where you are, people have just given up looking. I know I have basically giving up looking for employment, even though I desperately need one.

I just changed jobs 2 months back. Found a great job in r&d with a strong, growing company with decent benefits, closer to home with a pay raise. My economy's doin great!

My new boss said the position had been open for 2 years because he didn't have the time to train a new hire, and that they had gotten more well qualified, hirable applicants for the posting than ever before. I was honored to be their first call.

Oh and back to the OP, you said skilled labor, the oil patch just wants a warm body. There is a big difference between the two and so are the wages. I know you may not want to hear it, but maybe you are being "cheap". What exactly is your skilled labor position? I know I could do many skilled labor positions, but the ultimate candidate qualifications are laughable, so why apply, just as an example.

Around here unemployment is pretty high, but that's for the non-skilled stuff. The skilled positions go begging. Now, part of that is the fault of the companies looking for people; there are plant expansions going on where they say 'must have X years in this position to be considered' and that means they are sniping the people already employed in that capacity in the area. Problem is, why would someone leave a position where they are well established? Illogical.

Doing fine here, though i'm in the position of not really wanting to leave because the E36 M3 sammich will taste the same elsewhere. I do not enjoy my job in the slightest.

Might not have a choice soon though. A certain bill was upheld recently that puts my job in jeopardy.

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:

Interested in moving west about 90-miles?

In reply to Curmudgeon:

That goes back to a discussion I read either here or on the 'Bullet. It essentially boiled down to no company wants to hire and then train the new employee anymore. More times then not the new hire spends 6mo frustrated trying to do it the new way and walks out one day to not return, when a few weeks of training will make a happy employee that stays longer. Also, another problem is you can't fire anyone anymore. If you fire someone, even though the company may have every right to terminate employment, the company in the end takes it up the rear. So, why hire anyone to do anything?

In reply to petegossett:

Would depend on money really... Got two incomes to consider in this household.

In reply to Ranger50:

There's a lot of truth in that. When it gets down to where the bear craps in the buckwheat, it's better for the company to take the time to properly train someone than to try to snipe employees.

There are two big rubber companies here in the local area, one will train people who show promise. I know that first hand because I am under consideration for the second wave to staff a new expansion even though I have no direct experience. (I passed all the aptitude and preemployment tests and screening).

The other says in their various ads that candidates will not be considered unless they have a minimum of 5 years' experience in the field. Which one would you think is getting more rapidly staffed? Yup. I had to scratch my head trying to make sense of the second company's reasoning. They have a time limit, just like the first one, but through their refusal to consider training applicants with aptitude they will likely miss that limit.

Also, the second company is saying, in effect: 'We want someone else to train you. We are not willing to invest in you.' Hmmm. And they wonder why positions go unfilled.

SC is a 'right to work' state. I do not want this to turn into a flame war union/non union, just want to point out that just as the company has no obligation to continue someone's employment, the employee is under no constraint to stay. That means that if the company invests a bunch of $ in someone, they are best off to be sure the employee wants to stay because he/she can, at any time and for no reason, say 'okay, that's it, I'm outta here' and there's not a thing the company can do to stop it. About all they can do is put in a 'non compete' clause but even those don't have a lot of teeth down here.

I am also a machinist and despite rumors and job outlook predictions there seems to be a decent demand for skilled people in my field.

This past January I left a small job shop where I had worked for 4.5+ years. I did LOTS of in depth programming, ran CNC and manual lathes and mills, made fixtures, made jaws and reworked non-conforming parts. I landed in a small production shop and netted a slight increase in pay. I still had to cut jaws, hunt down/grind tooling and lightly edit programs but the parts were tiny and averaged 100+ pieces per order. After one week at the production shop my current employer finally called. I went for an interview, got the job, then apologized profusely to the manager of the production shop and gave them a two week notice.

Out of 500+ hourly employees at my current employer there are 20 machinists. It's more of a welding/assembling factory than a machine shop and I'm more of an operator now than a machinist but the pay and benefits are MUCH better.

Ranger50 wrote: It essentially boiled down to no company wants to hire and then train the new employee anymore. More times then not the new hire spends 6mo frustrated trying to do it the new way and walks out one day to not return, when a few weeks of training will make a happy employee that stays longer.

We will train and show someone a task and when they have a problem down the road where they might get in trouble they automatically throw up the "I wasn't trained" card to us. (did you ask questions?)

So now we have an official training record forcing us to show them when we trained them.

this is looking to be a good year for me... but not to add to the anti-union mindset.. I have finally managed to claw my way to the top of the call list at one of the places I work.. so I am always one of the first people they call when they need people. It only took me 8 years to get here.

It also helps that I do one of the most dangerous jobs in theatre..

I transferred to a new plant almost 2 years ago. We have been short handed in the maintenance department up until recently. As soon as we'd get close, one or two guys would quit, and we'd start looking again. $32/hr and most interviews were turning the job down. We are shipping record numbers of auto parts each month at work. Bidding wars are becoming a normal part of the house buying procedure. Because I'm so busy in my own part time business, I was looking for someone to do some reno work for me. Nobody would call me back. I'd say the economy is pretty strong.

Datsun310Guy wrote: We will train and show someone a task and when they have a problem down the road where they might get in trouble they automatically throw up the "I wasn't trained" card to us. (did you ask questions?) So now we have an official training record forcing us to show them when we trained them.

Here is my problem after training has been completed: WHO can someone go to to get the question answered? In previous employment, all I heard was "That is the way we always do it." as the answer, even when the solution makes entirely no sense or even remotely based in/on reality. You can't possibly train for every given scenario out there with a "good" expected outcome. Also, just because you trained someone doesn't mean you can turn them loose without refreshers every once in awhile either. Do I expect a janitor to need a refresher on how to mop a floor? No, but if you are getting a new piece of CNC machinery to replace the one I am working with, you bet.

EDIT- I just want to add to the first sentence idea with, the only people who ask legitimate questions while being initially trained either have a clue or are being employed at a job beneath their working knowledge/education. Most of the unwashed masses don't for fear of proving out what kind of person they really are, IMO.

Georgia is still at 9%. I hear the private sector is doing fine though.

Oilsaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaands

If you can breathe, they are hiring. So much money to be had (if that is your sort of thing). Working out of camp isn't even that bad... yes, I AM thinking about going and getting a $150k per year job, it could fund my WRC Academy ride for the 2014 season...

We have quadrupled our staff in my group and I am still working 60+ hours a week, its not 75+ so that's good. The headhunters are around as well in my field chopping up functioning groups as well which keeps things interesting.

Lots of money and work to be found but absolutely no trained people. Most left for sales jobs when things got a little tight a few years back.

Ranger50 wrote: Oh and back to the OP, you said skilled labor, the oil patch just wants a warm body. There is a big difference between the two and so are the wages. I know you may not want to hear it, but maybe you are being "cheap". What exactly is your skilled labor position? I know I could do many skilled labor positions, but the ultimate candidate qualifications are laughable, so why apply, just as an example.

I don't see a starting wage of 20 plus dollars an hour as being cheap. This is for a guy who can run a shovel and a skid steer, and work independantly.

And if you don't apply, how can you expect to find a position?

In reply to bearmtnmartin:

I meant "cheap" as either your requirements for an employee are too high for who does apply and can get called back for an interview, or based on your previous complaint, don't pay enough. What excluded your two previous of the 4 applicants?

As to me, it is exactly like what Curmudgeon describes. I can apply all I want, but I am circular filed because of stupid having to work "X" years of shoveling E36 M3 to make sure I can shovel E36 M3. Or the job is so specific on top of the job length requirements, you will never fill the position. Never.

In reply to Ranger50:

I understand what you are saying, but I supose my initial post was a bit of a rant against the oil patch taking all the strong backs. When the economy generally was shaky, I could choose from 50 applicants. Now I can choose from-as of this morning 5-. This is not a case of demanding unreasonable qualifications, because ultimately I am looking for a labourer with potential. And I am a very small outfit and I wil happily train the right guy. But they have to apply in order to be considered. And I cannot pay the same as Shell and BP for a labouring job and expect to stay in business. I am not even sure more money would help, as I am offering well above the average.

It's really great to hear so many of you with good stuff happening locally.

Pretty bad here. I've work as a Site Engineer and Project Manager at a small research Chemical Company. It completely sucks the life out of me. It pays the bills, but nothing more. The field I've spent most of my life in (construction) is at a total standstill, and will remain that way locally for at least 20 years.

I'd relocate in a heartbeat, but it is tough to open doors when you are out of the area and working extended hours.

Hanging on. Barely.

SVreX wrote: I'd relocate in a heartbeat, but it is tough to open doors when you are out of the area and working extended hours. Hanging on. Barely.

Don't know if you'd be willing to do fly-in fly-out, but 2 weeks on 1 week off up here and they are still hiring hand over fist (full benefits in Canada as well, nice clean lodging provided, meals that are healthy and suppers that are better than a low end restruant). Don't know if you have any trades to your name, but 1st year apprentice anythings start at $30/h. Also don't know if your experience is in industrial construction. If you could do it for two years, you'd easily earn over $100k net cash per year... and if you have a certificate in anything, probably more like $45-$50/h.