Pioneer's yearly labor rant....

[Pioneer]

So here it is, spring time, again. I need(ed) to hire some guys to help do lawn care. This isn't hard work by any stretch of the imagination. You just need to be able to run a string trimmer for 4 hours and sit on your ass, ON A RIDING mower for the rest of the time, while taking nice breaks in the air conditioned truck on the way to the next site. So I had a few interviews with some guys last week, spent a whole day driving them around and showing them the route. Tell them how much $$$$ they will be making and the fact that we work 4 ten hour day along with a $2K end of year bonus etc.....


Well, everytime I think I find a qualified person, they work for one day, and that's it! I never see them again :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: Why are people not willing to work for $15 hour, have a four day work week, along with a $2,000 end of season bonus???? Fawk! When I was a kid, I thought the $2.75 per hour I was making at Burger King was killer and now I can't find a single well bodied person for freakin $15 an hour? WTF??????:rant: :mad: :rant: :mad: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant:

[CLYDE]

let the economy tighten up a bit more,, you will hve plenty of folks then, and they will even be adults

[al24]

Ummm maybe the boss is an ...... well never mind.
Just a thought. :shrug:

[TwistedObsession]

Doing landscaping and lawn care for 13 years, I offer this.... Salary expectations are common on most any job application even before you know what is expected of you in the position your applying for. So don't tell them about the money. Ask them at the end of the interview after having shown them around and shown them and explained to them what their day to day expectations are, just ask them what they would expect you to pay them to do this kind work for you. This way you get some one whos pride in their work goes a long way for 10 bucks an hour and you get to weed out the ones that think they can jerk you around for 20.

Think about this (my current employer does this too) you advertise an unskilled position for $15 an hour, you just get every unskilled laborer thats currently making $8 an hour knocking on your door looking for a raise, only for them to find out that you actually do expect them to do some work where their former employers didn't notice they were slackers and just cut them a check every week for just showing up.

Really should not mention the 2k then you can pick and choose who you pay it to at the end of the season. Mail it to them after the season is up with a letter explaining what the money is and an offer to work again next year. Eventually you have a seasonal crew that will show up every day to work every summer.

my .02

[Pioneer]

Ummm maybe the boss is an ...... well never mind.
Just a thought. :shrug:
let me clarify this a bit. I have only hired one person so far this year. Now, when I hired him, I placed the help wanted ad and got a whooping two resumes and hired the most qualified. I can't understand why I only got two resumes:shrug:

[Big Dave]

Ummm maybe the boss is an ...... well never mind.
Just a thought. :shrug:

Someone got into the grumpy pills again . . .

[Pioneer]

Doing landscaping and lawn care for 13 years, I offer this.... Salary expectations are common on most any job application even before you know what is expected of you in the position your applying for. So don't tell them about the money. Ask them at the end of the interview after having shown them around and shown them and explained to them what their day to day expectations are, just ask them what they would expect you to pay them to do this kind work for you. This way you get some one whos pride in their work goes a long way for 10 bucks an hour and you get to weed out the ones that think they can jerk you around for 20.

Think about this (my current employer does this too) you advertise an unskilled position for $15 an hour, you just get every unskilled laborer thats currently making $8 an hour knocking on your door looking for a raise, only for them to find out that you actually do expect them to do some work where their former employers didn't notice they were slackers and just cut them a check every week for just showing up.

Really should not mention the 2k then you can pick and choose who you pay it to at the end of the season. Mail it to them after the season is up with a letter explaining what the money is and an offer to work again next year. Eventually you have a seasonal crew that will show up every day to work every summer.

my .02


So you saying to place a help wanted ad with a brief job description and that's it? I only mentioned the 2K after hired as a good incentive to stick with it till the end of the season. I'm just at the end of the rope, ive got spring cleanup's, aerating, etc....and one person to handle the work load.

[vb]

ive got the same thing in the construction industry. its hard enough to find folks with ANY skills. most of the folks i do hire cant take the pace or the load. imagine guys in their 20s that carry one board at a time. havnt found a guy in years that can visualize further down the road then the nail he is currently driving.


everyone believes that they can be rich with eaze.

as an aside: i had a landscape company dig a couple of holes for me this winter. they billed me 42 dollars per hour per guy. these were 2 holes, 3 1/2 feet deep and 4x4 foot square, in damp, loose soil with no rocks. got a bill for 650 bucks. thats some awsome pay for shovel work

[mtntj]

I have the same problem keeping guys. One thing to remeber, is, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Hired help will always be looking over the fence. It doesn't matter how great you treat them.. here today, gone tomorrow. Good luck with the new season!

[Budman]

WOW, I hope a job like this is available when In retire. I would love to spend a summer working this kind of job for this kind of pay while I figure out what I want to do when I grow up.

[TheCopperCowboy]

Welcome to labor hell.
I could control the brand and models of my work fleet. Buy high quality and expensive power tools, cords and anything to help speed along any job that I could tackle. Pay big bucks for advertizing and join referral services to generate more job leads. Work as many hours as humanly possible, not noticing kids growing up, wife turning sour or horses needed their feet trimmed. Recieving big checks that are only a small fraction of what you have into the business to date.
Then, you have a "troll force", who only knows payday is on Friday, cellphones require a quiet place to have a conservation, the impracticle car they purchased is a POS and doesn't always make it to a jobsite, scrap wire should be picked up and stashed in POS car instead of boxing it and giving it back to the owner of the wire, their kids are are first and foremost, but your kids can grow out of shoes while the work remains unfinished and behind schedule. Throw the human factor into any situation and there will be problems guaranteed. :mad:

[ASCTLC]

WOW, I hope a job like this is available when In retire. I would love to spend a summer working this kind of job for this kind of pay while I figure out what I want to do when I grow up.

Same thing I thought Bud.

[Budman]

Same thing I thought Bud.

You know, I really worry about finding a job when i retire, but since this is exactly the kind of job I am looking for, Maybe I should stop fretting so much.

[Slacker]

Sounds too much like work to me.....

[ColoradoSkier]

I've got a 14 year old that needs to learn what work is...

[FORMULA51]

hell, i have plenty of friends in the landscaping business that is always looking for more work (see, greener somewhere right?) let me know if you want me to send them your way

[Sprnklrmn]

What do you mean you can't find workers? They are lined up, right, bitching about the illegals who are taking their jobs? Just go pick a couple out and hire them.

And people wonder why we have so many illegal Mexican laborers in this country. Maybe it is because they show up and work hard.

I feel your pain, Curt. Most folks don't want to work; they want something for nothing. It is the culture that our democratic government has fostered.

"Democracy is the greatest form of government in the world until the people figure out that they can vote themselves benefits" (sic)

[Pioneer]

WOW, I hope a job like this is available when In retire. I would love to spend a summer working this kind of job for this kind of pay while I figure out what I want to do when I grow up.

I hired a guy off this board last year that is retired from the Air Force, and has been a life saver. He's been putting extra hours trying to help out and get me caught up. He'll be well compensated at the end of the season. He's a little slow, but I trust him to be left alone and get the job done. Right Ken, aka Captian Fuzzy Face!

[Pioneer]

What do you mean you can't find workers? They are lined up, right, bitching about the illegals who are taking their jobs? Just go pick a couple out and hire them.

And people wonder why we have so many illegal Mexican laborers in this country. Maybe it is because they show up and work hard.

I feel your pain, Curt. Most folks don't want to work; they want something for nothing. It is the culture that our democratic government has fostered.

"Democracy is the greatest form of government in the world until the people figure out that they can vote themselves benefits" (sic)

you got some guys I can buy off ya, if they're small I'll take two, I heard they work better in small groups.......


So how's you season goin Max? I still have not gotten any sort of answer on what they plan on doing for irrigation this year can you believe that?

[CLYDE]

To bad I blew up my back like I did,, I know irrigation very well,, did the commercial and residential for awhile, and now find myself needing work. Unfortunately digging holes in the ground is totally out of the question now..:(

[Sprnklrmn]

So how's you season goin Max? I still have not gotten any sort of answer on what they plan on doing for irrigation this year can you believe that?

Same as you, trying like hell to get aeration and fertilization done. Any week now we will start looking for seasonal guys to start running weekly service. Had some surprises. One large contract went for bid; that's fine, we're competitive. I know a guy on their board and he gave me some inside info. Us and another large metro area contractor were separated by a thousand bucks. Their 3rd bid, dude comes in at less than half. Guess who they chose? How the hell can he do an entire years maintenance on a 400,000 sq ft of landscaped area for less than what it costs me to just mow it? Something ain't right there.

Anyways, no biggie on the sprinkler stuff. I am going to carry another sprinkler tech this year so if they decide that they want us to work on their system I can work it in.

[FORMULA51]

once again, i have many landscaping / lawn / sprinkler / arborist friends that are ALWAYS looking for work....



let me know, i'll send them you guys' way

[MountainJeep]

I wish I had better news for you, but the current crop of non-college track high school students believe that money will be handed to them for doing next to nothing.

I am totally serious.

I had a freshman come to class without a paper and pencil yesterday. I ripped him a new one after he explained that he just wanted to go into "construction" and didn't need to learn anything in high school. I asked him what his boss would do if he showed up without his tools at work. He then told me he was going to be his own boss. I asked him who was going to write and submit his bids for jobs. he said ill hire somebody to do that. i asked him how he was going to pay his employees with no work. he said he would get a loan. I asked him what collateral he had that a bank would use to issue him this loan. He then answered "my house". I laughed so hard i about fell off my chair. I asked him if his parents believe his current level of academic achievement would warrant them risking their home for his endeavours. he just looked at me.

[ASCTLC]

You know, I really worry about finding a job when i retire, but since this is exactly the kind of job I am looking for, Maybe I should stop fretting so much.

Yup, figured I'm going to be that old bastard down at the golf course telling the preppy young shits to get with the program and quit holding everyone up :evil:

[birddog59]

The ranch I work on here in the summer has always been able to find summer help from the local high school and college kids. Those days are gone! With all the oil and gas patch stuff going on between here and Rangely we are hard pressed to find employees.

We have taken to advertising on college campus sites and are now having to provide more and more employee housing to make it all work. I know I am getting to the back nine because I sound like my Dad. "Work is a foreign word to most of todays kids."

We also have an end of year bonus, it does seem to help.

[cochino12]

Hmm, I thought you had something all lined up :flipoff2: ha ha Good luck man

[vb]

mountainjeep,
9 times out of ten, when i hire someone they can not convert fractions, can not add, and have to count the little 16th marks on the tape. over the years i have actually developed the methoud of calling everything in 16th and adding a plus if its a 32nd. so 36 and 3/4 would be 36 and 12 . the conversation about the word 3 followed by .... anything gets so out of hand its not funny. is that 3/16, 3/8, or 3/4? all they hear is the 3 and if they cant count the individual little marks they go crazy.

if i want 5 boards at 9inches they measure, then cut, then measure, then cut.
on the other hand, a guy thats good at what he does will measure 9 and then 18 (add for the thickness of the blade) 27, add for blade. blade is roughly 3/32nd so at 27 youd be 3/16th at 36 youd be 1/4 plus etc... mark em all while you have your tape out once. cut em all real quick and move on.

roof pitch and squaring foundations and walls and such all take geometry. round walls as well.

its been 20 years since ive actually seen someone come with those skills and very few are ever able to learn.
it drives me nuts when folks think that construction does not take brains. i can describe how swinging a pick takes some calculating!

[ColoradoXJ]

i remember this same thing from last year with ya :P


i am only available part time, but i might be willing to help you out. 5 years of municipal parks exp under the belt... shoot me a pm if you're interested. might be worth leavin the bar :idea: