Wages/area

[rondig]

Good luck at 12 bucks...come work for me on the shovel at 12 bucks...show up on time...work your butt off... stay loyal....and out of my generosity i will let u buy lunch everyday....that is EXACTLY what you sound like to an employee. You cant even live on 12 bucks an hour....unless you provide a truck,gas,insurance,and a place to live...it will cost the employee to work for you......well you were right...it is u...

 

[AzIron]

Wrc if there is one thing I have learned about finding help is that a guy that would fit the bill for close to top wage is capable of going out on there own like yourself and myself

It's a bull economy and pickers are slim I dont think it will get any better in the near and not so near future mainly because there are not enough young people to take over for those retiring soon so on the bright side we got job security especially in our trade of being POOR DITCH DIGGERS

I would bet that one day soon true tradesmen will be the highest paid people cause there are none and you can't automate all this work like they can in manufacturing

 

[catwelder]

i hire my buddy when need be pay him 15 dollars an hour to basically stand and look pretty till I need him to check grade. then days end go to the store buy him a case of beer pay him in cash and then when I need him ring him up again not many people want to work for 12 Walmart pays 11 an hour

 

[MarshallPowerGen]

I hope the way I worded my question didn't come off as you "drove off" your seven year guy, it was meant as why did he choose to move on. That makes sense if it was more of an age/retirement choice.

I like to start guys around 12 which is what I consider a fair wage. Show up on time for the first 30 days I'll give you 12.50. Learn to work with out being babysat and have me able to trust you you go to 13.50 or 14. Get a cdl and have me trust you 15.

I just did a quick search of Topeka on Indeed, and in the first few pages already found:
Construction Laborer $14-18/hr
Solar Installer $20/hr
School Bus Driver $16.50-18/hr
Juvenile Corrections Officer $15.75/hr
Delivery Driver $15/hr

The only requirement for any of these positions was High School Diploma/GED and a driver's license.

I'll be honest, there's better pay and more opportunity in your area than mine. It may be time to update your pay structure.

 

[jrgreene1968]

My dad owned a construction company when I was growing up, and he had the exact same trouble.. finding good help, except here, it was trouble finding good help at any wage. Dad did better hiring men in there 30-40,s etc and even had a couple old timers that retired from the county. Most all the men with a little age would work the young bucks under the table, and you never caught them jacking around instead of pushing dirt. Something about the younger generation, around here anyway, they just refuse to work. I had a kid call me recently( I’m self employed, field service) he wanted top wage, yet never spun a wrench in his life and didn’t own a single tool.

 

[AzIron]

Kids these days have no idea how much they dont have anything to offer except for **** an viniger and that means they have to work

Its unfortunate people have been raised not work who would have thought you would live in a time when there are companies that solve job is to put up and take down Christmas lights or others that go around an clean up dog poop how about lawn maintenance people seem to be allergic to leaves there taught that someone else should do the work

 

[MarshallPowerGen]

Kids these days have no idea how much they dont have anything to offer except for **** an viniger and that means they have to work

Its unfortunate people have been raised not work who would have thought you would live in a time when there are companies that solve job is to put up and take down Christmas lights or others that go around an clean up dog poop how about lawn maintenance people seem to be allergic to leaves there taught that someone else should do the work

I guess it depends on where you live. I've met and worked with more kids in their 20s that would run circles (at 70+ hours a week) around baby boomers in their prime. Along with the mechanical, they learned with all the added electronics and emissions right off the bat.

There are lazy shitheads in every generation; that's human nature. But if you pull the "Kids these days..." card instead of promoting the positives of hard work and skilled trade, you're only adding to the deficit instead of helping the trades to grow.

 

[rondig]

I hire a mix of young and old....1 old for every 4 young...works good....i mostly hire farm kids too.

 

[AzIron]

So there are 2 federal Davis bacon jobs going here in Phoenix scale for operators is 33 an hour I was talking to 2 other excavating contractors yesterday they are paying there best hands 27 but are about to go to 30 to keep them.

The backhoe rate is 100 an hour if we start paying 30 an hour we are going to be at 110 an hour real quick or we won't be making any money.

But Phoenix is the 1 growing city in the country so that could make a big difference