My youngest sister recently had a 2-1/2 hour surgery.
Over the course of the morning we were shuffled between two different surgical lounges. I got to sit beneath E.W. Sparrows' world-famous mobile-sculpture of Post-Nasal-Drip. Then we got to sit in the main surgical lounge.
As one point during the waiting, a conversation started with the party next to us. The topic was the incredible job-mobility in the 20-year-olds and 30-year-olds.
The basic dynamic is that even the very crappiest employees are not being let go. Manpower is just that tight. What happens is that the firm overloads the good workers and never disciplines the crappy ones. The good workers never see any increased pay. Equity, dontchya know.
The best, most abused workers leave thereby increasing the burden on the remaining good workers, who in turn, leave.
The firm enters a death-spiral.
The party sitting next to us had several men in the construction trades. Their major pain involved suppliers who seemed to be unable to put the boxes that corresponded to the invoices on the back of the trucks. Wrong kitchen cabinets were a frequent issue. Also, severely damaged parts that had been reboxed and shipped out again as evidenced by the retaping of the boxes.
I assume most of my readers have also run into these kinds of situations.
Cancelling debt cancels the obligation to work
Some kids are hard-wired to be honorable and to be hard workers. Many are not.
Debt happens. Some debt is good because it increases earnings or is in productive assets. Other debt is less good.
Historically, the way people got the jack-boot of debt payments off their throat was to work more hours, whether at the same job or picking up second or third job.
Today, little Miss Custom-Pronouns can sulk in her mom's basement and work at the coffee shop three afternoons a week, confident that Slow-Mo-Joe will ultimately expunge her debt.
Nope. She is not working 60 hours a week to get out from under. She is swooning and saying "Catch me..." Maybe she is working 12 hours a week AND she is failing to add to her salable skill-set.
Your mileage may vary, but the "Carhartt Crowd" blamed the anticipation of means-tested forgiveness of $20k-to-$60k in student debt as a major driver for the drought of people willing to work and the shortage of workers capable of reading a Bill-of-Material.
They blamed the same for the incredible burn-out rate among those who are willing to work.
Yep, two crushed bathroom vanities here... Opened the third in the showroom before we left to make sure IT had not been crushed...grrr...
ReplyDeleteCannot say I blame the Carhartt crowd, ERJ. And yes, I have also noticed less than ideal employees being retained because it is hard to get anyone at all, or if you let someone go the position will not be refilled.
ReplyDeleteThe example you cite will be in a more difficult position when the money runs out altogether.
We might forget details. Maybe even important details. But we nearly always remember how people made us feel.
DeleteDid we sigh with relief when XYZ walked into the room because we knew they were solid contributors who never stabbed teammates in the back. Or did we clench our teeth because we knew the new "teammate" would be nothing but trouble.
Thirty years after I last worked with somebody, I might run into them in a store and I still have those kinds of reactions.
The "swoon-catch-me" crowd has no idea how much they are polluting their future.
ERJ, I always tell the young Padawans in my industry that they should never be unkind or burn bridges. It is a small industry, relatively speaking, and you never know when you will re-run into someone.
DeleteYup, it's gotten really bad. I have lunch every Friday with buddies and the stories about their employees are getting even worse . I'm sure glad I sold out and am gone from that.---ken
ReplyDeleteRegards letting people go or sending them off. After they successfully file for unemployment, guess what, the employers unemployment insurance cost rises. So unless you can fire them for theft or some work related felonious act, the employer must of necessity grit his teeth and piss everybody else off.
ReplyDeleteGone Galt, myself....
ReplyDeleteEverything is failing.
ReplyDeleteWho is John Galt?
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
DeleteI'm in the beginning stages of building a house and my general contractor has a list of local craftsmen for his projects, including a local cabinetmaker who does fine work for reasonable prices... I've heard too many horror stories like OldNFOs about big store products.
ReplyDeleteIf you have Amish or Mennonites in your area they often have woodworking shops and are wonderful about detail always got a good price.
ReplyDelete