Diminishing quality of the labor pool

Has anyone else noticed that the quality of labor pool for the United States is on the decline? I live outside a major city and it seems like everywhere I go there are people that I wonder how they can function to live their lives normally somehow be employed and in reasonably paid positions. I have been encountering people that have very poor verbal skills, have horrible personal appearance and hygiene standards and by some strange act of social science they find employment. Have employers lowered their standards because they are unable to find anyone better suited or is this a result of affirmative action and other PC liberal policies? To me it seems like a good portion of the US economy is just coasting on past success and not providing much new value.

a reply to: AssiduousSpook

Agreed.

It appears as if people feel entitled to a job instead of earning one.

But then again, earning a good job requires effort.

a reply to: AssiduousSpook

Any concrete example of this statement?

Personally, I am not a big fan of the system itself. Most people I know spend all their youth in school and in college and study all kind of really good topics such as science and stuff, but the system is so hellbent on taking more than it gives, most people then have their dream crushed, their ideal position rejected by established figures (those who are already there want to keep their jobs, so new arrivals are not particularly welcomed), and end up as minimum wage employees.

So I wouldn't be surprised if some just simply don't try to rise anymore. But the fault is not entirely theirs - the system is doing a good job at destroying any ambitions which could threaten the system.

Welcome to the "benefits" of workplace diversity.

I actually had to take a training course yesterday on controlling my unconscious biases.

You will also notice that emphasis on safety is approaching ridiculous levels. Allowing natural selection to take its course is no longer PC.

But yes, I was in charge of hiring for a number of years, I preferred people over 50 as it seems everybody that was younger than that had no idea what job ethic is.

a reply to: Bobaganoosh

I'm looking for a protégé to succeed me when I retire.

HA!

I'd have better luck finding Elvis humping Bigfoot in a UFO.

a reply to: AssiduousSpook

Like it or not better pay begets better help. Ever notice when you are in an expensive restaurant the waitstaff is friendly and tables cleanliness are set at a higher standard?

GO to a min wage fast food joint and it seems different, pissed people and dirty restaurants. Of course this is a generalization, but I seem to notice it more and more.

If we all race to the bottom the bottom we will find. People need to earn enough money to afford all the stuff life requires. It's hard to be crisp, fresh and friendly when you work 3 part time jobs and still can't pay rent.

a reply to: seasonal

I'd be more than happy to start someone out at 80K, but they have to be clean, professional, ambitious, smart, educated, and willing to work nights, weekends, and answer the phone at all hours.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Greedy people don't always recognise good efforts.

There are many kings who always want everything from the little people but who aren't ready to give anything in return. It's easy for a guy to be the master and claim that the little people "owes" the guy their very lives.

Building trades are sufferring heavily.

It is not cool anymore to work with your hands. Most young people dont care if they paid for collage and are only making 60k a year as long as they dont get dirty.

If you are wearing construction clothes you usually get treated like a second class citizen by everyone else so I dont blame normal people for not wanting to get into construction.

Our cultural standards created a degrading work force.

a reply to: swanne

You want to make good money and have a successful career?

Then earn it.

Do you guys even realize that you're saying that the labor force is bad because minorities are in it? Maybe you don't realize what you're saying... I hope that's the case.

Anyway, the labor force is actually over qualified and probably you're running into people that stopped GAF out of frustration.

a reply to: MALBOSIA

I dunno about you but around here construction is done by young people mostly - more "experienced" people will either sit in their sand trucks or stand about the construction site placing cones and gossiping.

a reply to: Kali74

Bull.

I can't even get qualified people TO APPLY!

a reply to: DBCowboy

Good luck, sounds like you are looking for a son or daughter to take over a family business.

I have worked for that kind of money ($80,000) as a mechanic. And in the last 3 years the leadership for the company wants me to carry a cell phone answer at all hours, be available on breaks and lunches to run and fix this and that, work over time with less than a days notice, I didn't do all the extra stuff. I am flexible but you have to know your own value and stick to it. If they want additional work, the need to pay additional money. I haven't seen any cases of the company giving out more product at no cost and hourly workers should follow the same same protocols.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Look at my posting history. I am have quite a good education, and I work as hard as I can.

Yet I am stuck at a minimum wage.

Why? Because that's the only place the system allows me to be. All my education is completely useless, because the system requires physical labour, not thinking heads. The system is already full of elites who won't bulge out of their seats. But the system does has a demand for workers.

So yeah, I earn every cents of my pay - but that doesn't help my bitterness at the system.

So what I'm seeing, is if you want someone who will work overtime and on weekends, be clean, smart, educated. . .

I should start them out, start them out . . at 100K.

Oh crap, the nation is screwed.

Corner office also?

How about a secretary and a foot rub when the tootsies get tired.

a reply to: DBCowboy

The free market should tell you to raise your wages relative to the work you want done.

Some think the free market only works one way (for pay and benefits), it doesn't. It works for both for pay increases as well as pay decreases.

a reply to: DBCowboy

For what kind of work and what are you offering for wages?

a reply to: DBCowboy

Maybe 100K is what it will take to fill the position. If you don't fill it your business doesn't need that person. See free market rules for more info.

a reply to: Kali74

Entry level engineering.

100K

hahahahahahahahahahahaha