Hard workers?

[mullet]

This is a question for the Owners/Pro's.

Are you finding it harder to find workers that want to work especially the young kids?

The young kids you hire do they seem eager to learn and have good work ethic?

I am curious on what you guys have experienced around the country and stories that you want to share.

[PetrH]

i figure it always has been and always will be hard to find good help. Young kids have no idea how to work hard, they have to be taught how. It takes time, but it is totally doable. I think kids these days are no different from the way we were, you just have to show them the way.

[Dave Taylor]

Peter writes:

I think kids these days are no different from the way we were, you just have to show them the way.

Your prolly' right, Peter. Any difference in life ethics perhaps comes from the "Montessori" form of parenting so prevalent in recent years..... let em' learn on their own at their own pace. The missus' and I are too busy chasing a buck around to worry about it..... let somebody else worry about it. Aint' that what we pay taxes for?

[jwmezzanotte]

Im done.

Ive gone through several helpers, paid them well, treated them well, tried to teach them.
So far its a dead end road. Its not just the young ones either, ive had helpers older than me. Its either their personal life getting in the way, or it is just a complete overall lack of pride/work ethic.

Ive had it with helpers, Im going back solo. If I find I need an occasional helper I will hire at minimum wage and then not call them for work until I need them again.

For a new helper to change my mind back, they will have to REALLY impress me. And they'll have to do it on their own without encouragement from me.

I don't care anymore if it makes me an A-hole. Ive tried the nice guy thing, and it doesn't pay off. I look at a helper as a tool now, not a friend/co worker. If I dont need my tile cutter that day, I leave it at home.

[josephlewis]

I have a 16 year old helper that is great. Fun to work with, tries to anticipate what needs to be done next, wants to learn, quality work, willing to do anything. Demolition to wringing sponges to operating a skid steer. Only drawback is baseball games and practice, but hey, he's 16.

[John Bridge]

The really good and smart ones go into business for themselves. I did.

But I don't think things have changed a lot. Vocabulary has changed, but lazy kids are still lazy kids.

[mullet]

Peter, I don't know I started working when I was a young kid @ 9 changing oil on cars and my dads equipment. I couldn't wait to get a job because I wanted to save for car and so on. Kids my age in school we were always looking for work. Maybe it's me or me getting older but kids today don't seem to want to work hard or want to learn.

My neighbor hood is full of kids 8 to 19 and none of the kids cut grass or do anything, I see lawn maintenance companies or the parents cutting it. It seems like kids don't want to get their hands dirty or they think it is beneath them. I am wondering in another 10 years what is gonna happen with all of the plumbers, electricians, tilers, brick mason, framers, roofers.

John, I see your work and I would love to work for you and I would lean everything I could. I think it was you that was talking about some kid that was helping you texting non stop.

[Houston Remodeler]

I saw a brick mason sitting on a bucket yesterday at work. He fell asleep then fell off the bucket.

[Paramount Installer]

I had a paper route when I was a kid and I tried to sell greeting cards for cool toys(anyone remember "American Sales"?) I couldn't wait until I was 15 and could land a job washing dishes at a restaurant. I was always driven to excel and "earn my keep". I do know a lot of lazy kids out there, but there are good ones too. I think you can't expect too much from 16 year olds, and it depends what you want them to do. I've had some kids that you can mark a tile and have them cut it precise, and some are an 1/8 inch off all the time. Some kids were meant for other occupations, but I agree with Dave that you can train them to work hard. It sounds like John might have hired too many square pegs going into round holes.

[bulldog tile]

I go through a lot of helpers before I latch onto a good one. From my experience the one thing that makes guys more serious about a job and future is getting married and starting a family. I seen a lot of guys make a complete turnaround after they start a family.

Sometimes I'll hire the same guy more than once. I guess one of my best testimonials is a guy that I fired twice and hired three times back in the 80's. Good, smart kid but never had a care in the world, even about coming to work. It was impossible for him to get to work on Monday's cause his weekends were so "strong". Then he met a girl and they started having kids and he got serious about life, now he's doing real well, owns his own marble shop and I sub a lot of slab work to him.

I really don't think much has changed with kids.

[Dave Taylor]

Donnie writes:

the one thing that makes guys more serious about a job... is getting married and starting a family.

That ol' demon "sex" seems to git' us all.... sooner or later.

[jwmezzanotte]

George
You may be right. Not everyone is fit for this type of work.

Work ethic may or may not have changed, I cannot say. But one thing I am pretty sure has changed.. Were "kids" (by this I mean early 20's) always so bloody soft?
I had one helper that tucked his hands inside his shirt sleaves to clean up the job site. He didnt want "to get dirt on him", there were gloves in the trailer, but they "hurt his hands"
What the F!?

I saw another one "get hurt". (Not at work). By the performance he was making I thought he musta broke his arm. It was a cut, so big that they mighta got a stitch in there somewhere, maybe. Like a real tiny stitch..
He couldnt work the whole next week because of his boo-boo.

[Houston Remodeler]

John,

They got soft when;

Hand sanitizer became all the rage, Bike helmets were required, jungle gyms and swing sets became plastic, toys became electronic, everyone on the team gets a trophy, and when being a craftsman working with your hands became looked down upon as a viable way to feed a raise a family.

[Paramount Installer]

I had one 15 year old who talked about how he went through the junior cadet fireman program. He told me how hard it was because they had to run around with 50lb sacks on their back. I sent him to make a cut on the saw, and he ran back a few minutes later saying he couldn't make the cut because there was a bolt of lightning that "scared the living devil out of him". I don't know if being a fireman was his calling, and a tile man wasn't looking good either!

[jwmezzanotte]

I think you are right Paul, especially with the "everyone gets a trophy" part