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

The railroads are having a hell of a time hiring and keeping employees, too. Mostly because they treat us like worthless pieces of sh!t, who just cut into their profits. According to them, we do not make them the billions upon billions of profits they enjoy every year.
Oh, and we MIGHT be on strike here in the next few days. Wait to see what happens to the economy and supply chain if/when every major railroad, and most small ones, too, comes to a halt on 9/16.

 

The Ghost of Ewing Hunter Harrison lives on.

 

We can't get skilled people at 4 times minimum wage because others in the area pay more.

We also can't find contractors to work turnarounds because we don't provide a $150 per diem like our competitors.

 

Are you sure your HR department's computers aren't automatically screening out a lot of qualified candidates? That's been a big problem the last few years. Applicants literally have to take courses on how to format their resume so a real person gets to see it.

 

Similar where I work, and I work for a government corporation. No per diem has a bunch of the talent looking elsewhere. The vax mandate also reduced the hiring pool by roughly 80% too.

 

I work in IT and yes $21 an hour is not competitive. Not for skilled techs. But I get the issue the OP has with the bureaucracy.
Background checks for any postion that has access to the backend of networks is pretty normal. A DBA or Sys Admin will have access to presonal information, pay records, etc. My son is an EE. Had a job 2 weeks after graduation. And that was in 2020 when everything was shuting down. His interview was over the phone and lasted 2 questions.
1) Have you taken a job yet? Answer No
2) Will you work for us? Answer Yes.

They offered studnet loan repayment but he had none. So they kicked in a $11K bonus per year for first 3 years, Paid for grad school (draws salary while attending full time). Relatively low starting salary $48K first year. But the bonuses help. Gauranteed pay grade increase for first 3 years. Had to agree to work 5 years.

Daughter just finished an AAS and is working two jobs to figure out what she wants to do. She didn't plan on two jobs but got offers for two part time jobs that don't interfer schedule wise. Once she figures out what she wants to do, she will go back and get the education or training.

Just attended a conference that included a discussion on what younger workers want. Us boomers never heard of work life balance, but maangers better know what it is now. Dress codes need to change too. I've seen very talented workers walk away because they were told thye needed to wear a button down shirt and khakis to work in a server room all day. Flexible hours, remote work, and compressed work schedules are all part of the future.

 

Not sure if you see this working for the government but in the industries where I've worked, every manager has a huge hard on for being top quartile in the Solomon survey, which compares how every company does on a bunch of KPIs.

There are really only two options for turnaround KPIs, though. You can be top quartile on turnaround cost by paying like we do and end up 4th quartile on schedule because the cab drivers and baristas you end up hiring as pipe fitters and boilermakers have no idea what they're doing. Or you can be top quartile on schedule by paying a ton to get the best tradespeople available and end up 4th quartile on cost.

 

$21 an hour? You can go fuck around and be a Walmart eMployee for that.

I’m currently with the railroad and a basic
Laborer Job where you literally work maybe 4 hours total on an 8 hour shift and do the most basic things like spraying off the windshield on a locomotive then go sit on your ass for an hour is paying $33 an hour still can’t find anyone. Even with the new contract that just came out upping wages like 23% no one wants to work. With inflation and price of living here in north Idaho if your not making 40+ an hour you’re not living.

 

I don't think they track it that way in government. I'm not directly involved in the hiring beyond looking at resumes though. I don't think goverment employees care about KPI too much though. It's all about climbing the ladder and getting a "better" title, which is done through ass kissing rather than performance. There's much confusion about why people don't want to work on this site or why the most qualified guys are refusing promotions time and time again, leaving job gaps which stay empty or get filled with unqualified candidates.

 

Solomon is about company performance as a whole, though I'm sure it impacts the high ups' bonuses somehow.

 

I’m sure they are doing a terrible job not screening them. I literally have resumes from Uber drivers wanting a job on the team. It’s a pretty specialized position. I’m busy. Waste a lot of time trying to screen 50 non-applicable resumes to look at the 4 qualified candidates.

 

The fact you are picking up the slack means you are enabling the company to abuse you and most likely the other employees as well, also are you being paid for those positions that you're filling? double? triple? If not you're enabling the company not to increasing the wage.

 

I’ve been telling my father this for 20 years. He had to do the job right so when they don’t hire anyone or hire losers who don’t show up he always kills himself staying to all hours making sure the job gets done. I’ve backed him off slowly from 112 hours a week at two jobs to 80 at one now down to about 60 at one, but I keep telling him to stick to 40 and be done. He just can’t not do the job right. It’s not in him to walk away when a piece of human trash messes it all up.

 

This brings something else to mind. You read job postings lately? At least where I'm at they throw every possible thing they can think of including the kitchen sink in there. You sit there reading it thinking "there aren't enough hours in the day to do all this shit. This can't all be relevant. Pass."

 

Yup. I think the move to AI/ algorithms is the single biggest reason for poor availability of applicants for jobs.

 

Sorry for the loss of your friend. It's true, though. You can't burn the candle at both ends and the middle for long.

 

I tell my kids....life is a balance

Work hard to play hard.

it is a finite equation.

 

Yup. Nothing like covering a job and then being told "you're not qualified" when you apply for it. Saw it happen to a guy when he applied for a job, and then when they hired a guy for it they asked him to train the newbie.

Always remember, you could die today and your employer would replace you tomorrow if they could. They don't care. Act accordingly.

 

Our Clearance Operator has that quote posted over his desk.

 

I work for UP, but all the big Class 1 railroads operate the same. It certainly isn't a career I recommend to anybody anymore. You can make good money, but it definitely comes at the cost of having no life outside of work. The divorce rate is astronomical. Depression and
suicide is climbing. You miss nearly every holiday, kids activities, everything. And, on top of that, reminded daily how much they hate you.

 

What department are you in?

 

I think the appropriate response is "Sorry, you already told me I'm not qualified. Find someone with more acceptable skills/knowledge to train him 'properly'. Oh, and FU, I'm out."

 

I manage a team of electrical and mechanical engineers, who work at one of our client sites in Litchfield Park. These are either degreed engineers or high-level industrial maintenance technicians with 6+ years of experience. I am hiring at $70k + for fresh graduates. $86k for Engineer II and $99k for Engineer III. We are hiring at the 50th percentile for this field/job description - which means, generally speaking, we're attracting and keeping the 50th percentile of performers/talent in this candidate pool. Even at this level it's been rough and we've made two large salary increases across the board over the last 3 years.

Phoenix area was a tough market for us, but now that I have this team hired and working they represent my top performing team across the US. Wish I could clone most of this team. =]

It's rough out there - good luck. The only thing that is going to attract candidates in a limited pool are very, very competitive salaries.

To add to this, I think the software development and IT fields are even more competitive. My company also employs IT and software dev - dev is one of the highest turnover groups in the company. There are a LOT of options out there - most offering WFH, unlimited PTO, and a whole slew of progressive benefits. Again, if you're not really competitive here you're going to get a lot of poor performers or no one at all.

 

Did you read that letter floating around a while back written to I think the STB by a Trainman? He spelled it right out to them why dangling the RR retirement carrot isn't near enough anymore.

Back in the Mid 90's one of the industry magazines had a good article titled the Civil War General Mentality. Man, that sure cleared up a lot of questions in my mind just why the hell Conrail was managed the way they were. I learned my management skills from American Honda. The RR didn't have a clue how I worked but said to keep doing it. 4 yrs retired now and I hate trains only slightly less now.

 

Sounds like the Team you wanna clone deserves a raise.

 

They literally just got one. We did a company-wide "job leveling" exercise that we just completed. We used nationwide data to determine appropriate salaries based on job title, level, and regional markets. I was lucky in that only 3 people on my team of nearly 30 were in need of an adjustment. I have several who are well over the 50th percentile and am able to justify every one of them by their performance. These guys are paid appropriately, and had a lot of opportunity to move into quality, r&d, leadership, etc, in a rapidly growing company. I have no guilt whatsoever that anyone on the team isn't getting what they deserve.

We get a ton of great perks too, enjoy unlimited PTO, generous contributions to health insurance, maternity/paternity leave, etc. "Total rewards package" is more than just salary alone - but everyone is after something different and may leave to find that something elsewhere. As an employer, it's up to you to figure out what the correct total rewards package is.

 

My dads little brother just died of the same thing at 57… same reason. I’m about to call my Pop’s boss and let him know he’s available M-F, 6-3, and he’s been promoted and has a raise. If not I’ll hire him myself (I’m a few years out from this plan anyway) for double his current pay.