What's the deal finding help these days ?

[TnAndy]

Been a little laid up the past month ( triple bypass ) and decided I'd try to hire a little help to keep up with the weed eating and such that I would normally do.

First young man that shows up ( off Craigs List ) has a diamond stud in ear, hundreds of bucks worth of body art, and spent as much time talking/thumbing his cell phone to set up his next date out of a stable of girls as he did working.

Next "boy" ( 19, 6'3", stout looking ) was the son of a friend looking for some summer work before he starts tech school in Sept. 5 hours into weed eating, he comes to me and says "I'm wore plumb out.....can't do another thing".....he did manage to drive off, and I didn't have to call a cab for the poor thing. And the day was overcast, fairly cool, breeze....not like it was 90 degrees and sunny. I showed him what I wanted mowed, then let him to do it at his own pace, fed him couple hamburgers for lunch, and so on.....I don't own a whip.

SO, what is it with young folks today ? Have video games ruined them ? ( they all seem to have REALLY stout thumbs ) Am I the only one to experience this ?

[Use Less]

I have hired neighbor kids & my nephews on occasion. Not all have a good sense of what it is to work consistently & persistently. Kids don't all spend the amount of time outdoors that I remember spending, aren't all that handy with tools, and also haven't learned how to pace themselves appropriately. The ubiquitous phone & constant social contact-at-a-distance is a given with most teens, and very disconcerting to anyone over about 25 or so. I would suggest you pay for the job, not by the hour. The job needs to be finished to some specs you outline in detail & in writing. Make up a little contract that says the worker will wear suitable clothing for protection from the elements. Supply gloves, safety glasses as needed. Require they not use phones except during breaks, which you also spell out & pay for. Including some snacks, drinks or lunch can be a good idea. Then pay enough that they are encouraged to complete the work, even if you feel you are overpaying. Besides getting your chores done, you could be teaching someone a valuable lesson about "work". Sue

[Micheal]

No, you're not alone in that type of experience!
Must be you were not paying 100 gilzion bucks an hour nor hiring an assistant to help with such "hard" work...........
You have experienced why I really laugh when those talking heads keep talking about bringing back the WPA or the CCC. Back in those days - well people were just plain different ( in a good way!!).

[Parttimefarmer]

Yes! The older gut who cut our lawns (we had a rental and we are at the farm in summer) got fired by his company. He always did a good job, edged, weedwhacked, no complaints. I now have teenagers cutting, same company. No edging, no blowing off of the drive, weeds are all along the edges, and all the grass isn't mowed that's not really easy to cut on the giant mower. The other guy brought a push mower to get around the gardens. I don't know why he got fired, but I may need to go find him.

[SFM in KY]

I haven't had to deal with 'help' in the cell phone era for which I am eternally grateful, but yes, I would spell out that cell phones were not to be carried 'on the job' ... breaks only. I think the cell phone thing has gotten to be a major issue maybe the last 10 or 12 years.

Other than that, I've had most of the usual difficulties with hiring help and keeping them working but I can't say that I noticed I had more trouble in the 90s than I did in the 70s. I do remember my Dad hiring high school boys to stack hay (football players in town wanting to 'toughen up' for the fall season) and it seemed like they worked and worked hard while they were there, but they were getting paid by the bale ... and he was out in the field with them. That was back in the late 1950s and early 1960s ... and I have heard local farmers say in the last 10 years they've had to quit putting up hay in the small square bales and go to the big round bales because they can't even find hay help now to stack.

[TNHermit]

Part of the problem is the kids and bringin up. But an equal part is what they have seen. they see no future in bustin their rumps. Ask them if they think about owning a home or anything. Most will tell you no. They don't think they will ever be able to afford it. Look at wages they are at 1970 levels. as far as tehy see unless your a rock or sports star or a gamer/computer geek your goin no where. So why not just take it easy and enjoy life, not work to hard. Don't worry, be happy. Sonder where they got that from. And its all part of the dumbing down ,depend on govt, zombie plan.

[checkitnice]

Was it a lawn company that was contracted by the rental company? The rental manager will more than likely know the guy's name if he was a good worker.

We had a guy like that at the apartments I managed - our lawn company went under and we hired one of the crew on as a maintenance man because he was such a hard worker.

[motdaugrnds]

That occurs here too. A few years ago I needed a few things done that I was unable to do and David didn't have the time to do; so I advertised for help at $10 per hour (that was high at the time for common labor). Had 1 grown man about 27 show up and it took half an hour for me to realize he was unable to understand the simple instruction of using a spade. I told him I couldn't use him, handed him a five dollar bill for his efforts (to understand) and he said, "Is that all I get?"

The next two men who showed up were father and son-in-law. The father was a hard worker and the son-in-law would take time to stop working and just talk or smoke a cigarett. They built a cinder block retainer wall (It fell over within 2 yrs and David and I are having to redo it.) and "started" a shed at my buck house. David got home, inspected the shed and blew up! The man had "spliced" a corner post. Needless to say, I stopped their working here. (Seems most...yes most...of what we hire to get done we have to re-do; so we have stopped hiring.)

Makes me feel really good . I am in the position of trying to hire some help right now . Hope I have better luck .

[Parttimefarmer]

Originally Posted by checkitnice

Was it a lawn company that was contracted by the rental company? The rental manager will more than likely know the guy's name if he was a good worker.

We had a guy like that at the apartments I managed - our lawn company went under and we hired one of the crew on as a maintenance man because he was such a hard worker.

No, we hired them, it was our old house we rented out. I know his name, I think I'll find him.

[Dutchie]

I hire FFA kids. Great workers!

[SFM in KY]

Definitely pay by the job, not the hour. And I found out it's also best to tell them HOW you want the job done, specifically, and that you will pay only if the job is done the way you specifiy.

This is something I learned years ago when I was single and hiring 'heavy work' done that I couldn't do myself ... stall cleaning, building fence, etc. ... and you do need to be very specific. Posts "X" deep, wire wrapped 'this' way and stapled, woven wire stretched with 2 x 4 stretchers, corners braced 'this' way.

Had two 20-something fence builders listen, nod and when I came back several hours later, nothing done correctly. "Oh, we do it this way all the time. It works fine."

"The agreement was that the fencing would be done and done MY WAY or you would not get paid. You can either take this down and do it the way you were told or you may leave now and I will find someone that will do it the way I want it done."

[sunflower-n-ks]

Yep, similar problems here also. The problem with young people is bad enough that almost all of the businesses I know will not hire the young workers because they will not work. And they overvalue their worth wanting the high wages. The best helper I have had was a young teen girl that was not afraid of work and knew how to do chores fast. But, she got older, got a job in the city and is keeping it, along with school and her own livestock projects. Moving on with her life. She will do well in life.

I was thinking yesterday that there is a retired man in the next town over that has his own business doing odd jobs. I think I will get a list of chores I cannot do and see if he will work for whatever amount of time it will take to do them. Bet they will get done right and in a proper amount of time.

[whiterock]

I know a young man, just turned 16 this summer, hardest working youngun I've seen in 20 years. His Dad is the same way. Neither one can sit still for 15 minutes, unless watching a ball game, news/weather, or eating a meal. When I got home from the hospital, the boy did more work around here in 3 hours than I could have done in several days. Dad says he used to ride the tractor in a car seat.
Ed

[Waiting Falcon]

Is it common for a worker to charge you trips to town hourly plus fuel?
To keep the tarp he bought out of your money to cover the lumber from my account for the job at the lumber yard?
Is it uncommon to check a job out and make a list of parts, material that is needed, etc and get it all at one time instead of finishing this job_2 hours go get parts, 2 hours start another job, go get parts-- say plumbing, electrical, lumber etc. or "work "
4 hours run around for 2-3 hours, is this today's name of the game? Man is 45 years old.

To take a break before and after lunch and then go to lunch in town as well?

[fishhead]

We just hired 2 guys for a day. The teenager was great. He was serious about his job and smart. The 30 something not so much.

[highlands]

Originally Posted by TnAndy

SO, what is it with young folks today?

I've heard that complaint for centuries. Don't over generalize. Our two sons and our daughter work hard from before sun up to after sun down. I know young people and old people who are hard workers and others of both who are lazy. Focus on the ones that work hard and don't generalize that "young folk" are the problem. That just gets in your way.

[jen74145]

When my husband was overseas, I needed someone to do yard mainntenance. I had a one year old and no one to help me with him so I could work outside with the weedeater or whatever; add to it, our mower died and none of the secondhand shops would help me load one for any amount of $. Liability, you see.

From guys who didn't show up to guys who complained about the work (err, yes.... there is work involved in WORKing for someone), to, my favorite, the man who said sure, he'd mow for the summer... in trade for my husband's TRUCK. Honey, I may be a woman but I am not stupid. Shoo.

My neighbors never even knew he was gone. People whose pets I have chased/returned, who I have aided in their troubles, they had no clue I was living alone with a baby. Ah, except the neighbor who called the police when Guy #1 was a no-show and getting someone else to come out to the boonies to mow was proving a challenge. Ouch. Mr. Officer was rather nice once he found out the DH was working in Iraq and I had a baby, and kind of horrified they'd called.

I tell you, that year with my husband gone jaded me with regard to people.
I try not to let it, but most folks will kick you when you're down.

[Cheribelle]

Well, too bad more of you aren't in my area! I am a Jack- of-all trades, and do handy man type jobs of all kinds. Whenever possible, my 15 year old son works with me. We could use the work!

[Wayne02]

Originally Posted by TnAndy

SO, what is it with young folks today ? Have video games ruined them ? ( they all seem to have REALLY stout thumbs ) Am I the only one to experience this ?

Nope, not the only one by a long shot. Many of the older rural folks around here have given up trying to hire help and drive a couple towns over to pick up supplies, and 'day laborers' from in front of Home Depot. I detest this practice but for many of them it's the only option to hold onto the farm. Else-wise they would need to liquidate the homestead and move into an apartment of some kind in suburbia or the city.