Cannot find skilled employees - ideas and anyone want to move to AZ?

Yup. When it comes to a job/career, money talks and bullsh*t walks. Doesn't matter if the job is great and the boss loves you, if he doesn't pay you as much as you can make elsewhere, most people are going to jump ship.

OP, to attract competent workers you have to pay competitively, and 21 bucks an hour isn't it. 4 years ago I came into the position I'm in now at an "entry level" at the base pay was $27+ an hour. The analysts and such with skills/certs/degrees started several dollars more than that.

 

I can start you at the same pay and benefits in a tiny state with better economy, lower cost of living, and all with no skill. We train on the job. IT is probably easier on the body than welding but $21/hr in a state much larger and higher cost of living for a “skilled” position is nuts.

You can walk in off the street and get that here no previous skills. Heck one loser they just hired calls in multiple times a week and they’re so strapped for workers “next time” is always the time they’re for sure going to fire him. He’s not even good at his job haha.

 

Couldn't disagree more. I'm one of those boomers who still enjoys my field of work. Our company is thoroughly into investing into our talented employees. We have a calibration/metrology training facility in Houston where we send techs from all of our 25+ labs. We also have dedicated/mandatory training occurring in all the labs. You are learning something new everyday. Our wages are competitive and great benefits which have value. It's simply not just how much you make per hour. BTW, us boomers are training the next generation of qualified calibration technicians. I'll quit on my terms.....

 

Not saying I agree with him, but is your company the rule, or are they the exception? There is always an anomaly, an outlier, the exception to the rule, but that doesn't mean that the rule isn't the norm.

 

There are lots of great companies out there offering up decent wages and benefits like ours. The hiring problem is widespread. Our best candidates come from the military. Disciplined, reliable, trainable, and actually put in an 8 hour day. We are part of a program that hires on active duty folks that are short timers. They get their military pay and what they earn at our company while getting trained. We get resumes from people with a worthless non STEM 4 year degree that expect to have top of the ladder pay and privileges and only 22 years old and in debt. Military and 2 year vocational school folks are what we like.

 

Some of you act like the average working Joe having a little power over their destiny is a bad thing

COVID lockdowns showed people there’s more to life than grinding away for a company that doesn’t give a crap about you. They learned they could be kicked to the curb by their employer of 10 years at a moment’s notice. Or it showed them that remote work was possible or even superior in many career fields.

For good reason, a lot of people lost faith in the system and its promises (lockdowns, layoffs, being deemed “essential” and disregarding their safety, being forced to get vaccinated, working longer hours and being stretched to their breaking point, etc). They realized the government and their employer wasn’t actually there to help them. So they found other ways.

Some people chose or were forced to downsize their life and don’t need to work as much to pay the bills in their McMansion anymore. Some started their own businesses or changed careers. Others tightened their belt and retired early.

Bottomline is you’re going to have to pay more than Walmart if you want someone with skills and experience. Especially when the cost of living has skyrocketed. I’m tired of people white knighting for companies who expect you to work for wages that barely cover expenses and leave nothing for life.

Generally, the people making most of the money at a company see the average person as a number. Maybe don’t be so quick to rush to their side and defend them. They’re usually not your friend. It’s a business and now the average person has a bit of bargaining power. That’s not a bad thing in my opinion.

OP - If you’re feeling stretched and being expected to cover for multiple open positions plus your own, it may be time to start looking elsewhere. There are companies out there doing, or being forced to do, the right thing. If you like where you work, maybe try to renegotiate better terms. You obviously have some leverage right now.

 

My take on it is this: wages have failed to keep up with inflation for so long, that people are realizing they can either bust their ass for 40 hours a week and still have nothing, or sit on their ass and get the same amount of nothing out of life.

My wife and I never thought we'd make the money we are now. If we'd made this money 25 years ago when we started we'd have been able to afford a big house on the hill, 2 new Mercedes in the driveway, and caviar for dinner every night. But since we didn't get there until now, we just get the same mass produced house in a boring suburb that everyone else has, drive mid-trim Toyotas (not that that's a bad thing, necessarily), and eat spaghetti.

Don't get me wrong, we're doing better than not having a job and I'm thankful for that. What's sad is the realization of just how many out there don't make 1/2, 1/3, or even 1/4 of what we do, and I don't see how they make it in today's world. We could make it on less because when we started you could find safe, livable housing for under $500/mo. New cars were available for just over $10k, and gas/food was cheap. Clothes were affordable and actually lasted more than a handful of washes before coming apart. And we still had money left over for things like bowling leagues, going to the local races every Friday night, and the yearly festivals like homecoming, the county fair, etc.

It's a sad situation we're all in, and I can see why so many would simply give up. There is very little good news or hope out there right now.

 

I can sympathize with the OP. Our Phoenix lab needs techs. Our Denver lab is down 2 techs. We recently hired two experienced techs that "were" retired. I think the restaurant industry got hit hard. I drive around town and see help wanted on almost all the restaurants. Some with $20 per hour posted and still can't get enough help.

 

The position I’m trying to fill is a low-mid six figures job. Definitely skilled position. Definitely few applicants. Even less qualified. Even less willing once we discuss the job. It’s a tough market. Used to get 50-100 resumes per posting almost immediately. At least 20 were qualified. Those days have seemed to pass.

 

And those useless degrees cost an order of magnitude more than they did to earn 20 years ago. Every university has a “Dean of _____” (…student life, student affairs, campus culture, every “college” within the university, etc etc etc), and they’re all $300k/yr or higher. The bill for this out-of-control administrative bloat just gets tacked onto tuition. They don’t care that you bought a degree from them that you can’t use to pay off your debt.

 

While waiting at the Home Depot tool rental, I got chatting with a young guy that was saying he pays $28 / hr for starting construction, people who don’t know anything in the Seattle area. Cost of living is very high here, and I’m feeling the inflationary pinch as I’m retired.

 

$21 is not even close to a liveable wage in the condition that this country is in.

You probably won't find anyone. As long as your company can depend on you to fill in for the empty positions, they probably won't offer anymore money, or they may just cut the positions entirely, or contract the work out to save money.

 

Yup, the dollars are all an illusion. Higher wages lead to higher costs for everyone leveling the field again. Those in the lower pay scales get paid enough to keep up with the new inflation it creates. Those in the middle get pinched the hardest, same money, less buying power.

 

You’re not wrong. I think the OP works for a municipality. If thats true, there’s no negotiation possible, because there’s no “boss” that can ok an increase. Instead, jobs are grouped into classifications and bargaining groups petition a City Manager or some other decider, competing with every other bargaining group, only when current contract expires. Any changes in wages or benefits must be voted on my member if each bargaining group, then get weighed with competing bargaining groups, some of which the voting public prioritizes. The final proposed contract packages must be approved my a City Council or other budget controlling entity. These know that tax-payers/ voters may support increased pay for police and fire— because the past decade showed these employees leave for better paying jobs, and finding and recruiting replacements costs a lot and takes a very long time… and far fewer are interested these days. So support jobs like IT won’t ever be anywhere equivalent to private sector.

OP should take a different job. Only if his current employer doesn’t have him and his remaining coworker— and cannot get replacements— will the compensation get any attention. He may be rehired in future, better conditions. I figure you know; this is more meant for the OP.

 

In my area, when I first started working in IT, an entry level tech in local/state government was in the low $40k’s range annually. Adjusted for inflation today that’s about $28 an hour. And we have(had back then, anyways) low housing costs.

 

I currently work for a paid Fire dept on the front range of CO. 4 years ago we had over 1200 applicants for 1 position. 6 months ago we had 167. After 2 years the salary is close to $100,000. The people we did hire should not be Firefighters. No mechanical skills or self motivation. It’s every occupation.

 

It’s been my experience that your company is certainly the exception, not the rule. I would also suggest that if you’re able to retire and live comfortably, you should. You’re otherwise keeping someone who needs the work from getting it. Lots of differing opinions on that last sentence, and it’s quite possible that doing so would be more harmful to things as a whole, as there’s potentially no one to fill your shoes…but since your company is training folks, that shouldn’t be a problem.
I personally know dozens of people who have lived through exactly what I described. I could’ve easily been one of them, but I took some calculated risks and was graced with blessings, and it worked out well for me.
Boomers killed the very training programs that helped get them started. Boomers outsourced the work to communist countries in the name of cheap labor. Boomers taught and preached that greed is good! Refusing to acknowledge these facts is what makes “Ok Boomer” part of todays vernacular.

Toyota has been one of the few bright spots during these times. Let’s hope they continue to do so.

 

Bro whut

 

My Wife works for the state, she just got her first increase in 10 years, it was 3%. The department head gave everyone a 5k bonus out of discretionary funds last year as the state refused any raises then.

She had a horrible employee that phoned in her work 90% of the time yet could not be fired. Luckily she had a baby & quit, the pool was so thin she hired several people from out of state they accepted & never showed up.

They finally got someone & it's been one issue after another.

 

I'm not keeping anyone from working who needs the work. Lol. Did you read that there is a shortage of trained calibration techs in my post? I haven't outsourced anything and I served in the Marine Corps. You are certainly entitled to your rediculous opinion about boomers but you have no right to tell me how to live my life. SMH

 

My district is the largest in the county and is also the largest employer with over 10k employees. They just raised starting salaries of new teachers to $60k.

They are planning to give out retention "bonuses" of $500 later on this semester and $12-1500 next semester

 

Thanks for your service, it’s much appreciated. I wasn’t issuing any sort of commandment or edict about how you live your life. Just observing what’s actually happening and asking for consideration is all.

 

Drug testing in IT....not in my last 15 years in the field. And with those prerequisites the starting pay should be closer to $30+ an hour easy. Plenty of data center tech jobs here in Denver starting at that pay and don't require polygraph or drug testing

 

I also take Polygraphs for people - give me a ring and we can talk prices.

 

Wife wants me to take one after my last purchase. Do you guarantee results?

 

Yes. We also do monthly subscriptions and accept Venmo.

 

Sunnier is correct about the negotiation process and raises having to go to council. I am at $27 hr. after they just gave us a 6% cost of living wage. A lot of the issue is that I feel IT is really underappreciated and undervalued in the city. Most people think we just setup PC's and reboot things and have no idea what it takes to keep a network running. I know if the city priced out a managed service provider to do what we do it would cost them 3 times as much and they would not get the same quick turnaround or onsite service. IT seems to be undervalued a lot of places right now as looking at jobs on Indeed I am seeing starting techs at $18 and Network Admins @ $27 -30 hr.

My home has doubled in value since we purchased it at 3/4 of that is equity. My wife and I have really considered moving back to the Midwest where we could get a comparable home and have it paid off. The one saving grace for us is that we are pretty much debt free except for out mortgage, my wife works from home and makes as much as I do and I only have a 3 mile commute to work and we are pretty comfortable. Oh, and we do not miss winter or tornadoes and I will have a state pension when I retire. At my age it is difficult to think about jumping to see if the grass is greener.

I guess I am old school to where I have a strong work ethic, put in a days work for a days pay and am loyal to my employer if they are good to me. As a young man I started out roofing at $7 hr. and learned to appreciate using my head to earn a living instead of my back. I am turning into my dad by bitching about the cost and quality of everything. We have a lot of homeless here too and I just shake my head in disbelief. Most of the homeless are that way because of drugs or mental illness or both. MJ is also legal here and I get the impression that many people want to work just enough to get pot, pizza and cable TV.

The Tech I position we are looking for really isn't that skilled of a position. It is mostly installing PC's for new users, resetting passwords in AD, and replying to service desk tickets. We haven't hired a tech since before covid and I am afraid the times have changed like everyone here says and that the city hasn't kept. up. I think the world changed when I was busy working and not looking. Oh, we had three interviews scheduled and only one person showed up. I dont know why you would schedule and not bother to show but I thought it might have to do with people collecting unemployment.

 

In all honesty , there's a lot of change going right now. Not in IT but I'm in a similar field in fraud for a major US Bank, and I think it's more than wages, although 21 an hour is basement level. I'm a manager and there's a number of things in the workforce at play right now. Quality of life and realizing your job doesn't define who you are , I think were the biggest takeaways from covid for me . I make a great salary , but am soon to be walking away from a 16 year career simply because it's not worth it anymore even for what i make , its not enough for the bullshit im asked to put up with both from employees and the company itself. Moving on to something else, in demand and better pay and most importantly works best for me. It's scary starting fresh but I think alot of people may be doing just that because covid caused them to rethink their life priorities. I will be walking away from 16 years in banking and God willing will never look back.