WTF is REALLY going on with the job market?

[Sniperwannabee]

Out here on the west coast , no one wants to work.

 

[Sniperwannabee]

My nephew is actually doing quite well now; I guess that was the kick in the ass he finally needed. He has gotten his 100 ton captain's license out in San Diego, and working more than he sleeps.

Oh how I could break this apart and explain it to you...but I doubt you'd ever understand.

Always jobs at sea..

 

[TxWelder35]

If you can weld, you can find just about any big shop hiring and the starting pay is going to be minimum $20/hr. Every big weld shop I see has a hiring sign on it. If I hire a guy to help me for the day I got off dirt cheap at $200 for the day.

Honestly if you can’t find a job making $20+ per hour right now you are a hopeless person. Literally the wait staff at every restaurant around here is starting people at stupid money. A/C Company my brother works for has delivery van drivers starting at $20/hr. Every cashier in the metro is making $15/hr

Honesty this sounds like a you problem.

 

[hukset402]

Lol you took a job collecting money for event parking thinking it was gonna solve your problems? No wonder you didn't cut it as a welder.

 

[papershredder]

Oh no dont say that people shouldnt want to be treated like commodities, @Cowpokey thinks everyone who says that is just a whiner who cant get their shit together.

I don't know what you have against Cowpokey, but leave me out of it. The only point I was trying to make about employees being commodities has been understood by anyone who has worked in manufacturing or chain stores for any length of time. I have no dog in whatever pissing match is going on here, so I'll leave you with some tips since I'm also currently changing jobs. See if you can learn something here with my story:

Even though I didn't like my last job very well, I didn't just walk out on it. I got an offer someplace else that does the same type of work and uses the same machinery that I currently run, set up, and maintain. They offered me the same pay I was making at the job I was at, but this new company has better benefits and more upward mobility. So like a good employee, I put my two weeks in. And of course, since nobody at my former place of employment wants to do the work I have been doing for the past few years, they offered me top pay for the position I was at. Now since that place treats employees as numbers and gives out only 3% raises each year, I'm not hanging around. If I had accepted top pay offer, then there would be no more raises and I would be stuck doing the same old shit I have been doing for the past nine years with no hope of doing anything else. Now if former company would have been more fair with pay over the years I was there, I wouldn't have considered leaving. Hopefully that company learns a lesson with my departure, because my last couple days there, other employees were threatening to leave so they don't have to do the jobs I was doing. Anyway, back on track, the take away here is learn to use any skills you gain at whatever you're doing and use those skills as a spring board. Learn not to settle for a "job" and seek out better opportunities. Right now is probably the best time anyone is going to have to get a job they probably wouldn't get in a normal labor pool. Take advantage of other peoples laziness, don't just sit here and complain.

 

[Namekagon]

The wife and I have talked about this as length. We came up with what I think is the answer a while back and it checks out the more I talk to people who own a business as well as people who are working their normal job that they 'survived' through all the covid bullshit with. They all say very similar things.

It's the beginning of what we call "The Great Millenial Give Up".

Where are all of the employees when there are 1000 'help wanted' ads up literally everywhere? They fucking gave up. Not in a sense that they gave up because the odds were against them, but in a sense that they generally made bad life decisions and really got nowhere in life, didn't have or want to have what it took to actually succeed and came to the honest realization that this was true.

This coincided with a 'pandemic' that gave them not only an excuse, but a mandate to stay at home and do literally nothing and receive as much, or more income than they received based on their worth to society, which usually wasn't much. The 'safe spaces' and social justice bullshit took a backseat to sitting at home in your underwear, getting high, playing XBOX and having the .gov paying you to do it all with no real end in sight.

Days turned to weeks. Weeks to months. Months to basically 2 years of this. This was long enough for them to 'adapt' to a sedentary, isolationist lifestyle where the entire free market system basically ceased to exist to them. Why? They don't 'need' it and they don't want to deal with it again because all it meant to them was bullshit work, low wages and made up shit like the reason that they fail so bad is because whyd peopo or some dumb shit.

This was the first shoe to drop. Basically taking them out of our society as producers in any degree and making them subsidized consumers. Divorcing them from society was very easy as society really never gave them anything and they were easily done with it.

Then came the market adjustments due to the fake pandemic, inflation and supply shortages. Target where I live has been openly advertising that they are paying $25/hour for positions I could do if I was blackout drunk. Local restaurants and business are all offering a ridiculous starting wage that literally NOONE deserves working there. So will they all come back and get a fucking job; because remember the whole push to $15/hour and that would fix everything? Of fucking course not.

The mentality is this. They have separated themselves from basically the outside world. They also continue to make horrible life decisions. They don't really need a car or want car insurance because they'll just Uber it. They don't want health insurance because why? Going to work costs gas, is inconvenient and a primary trigger for their made up mental disorders. They happily defeat themselves into living in their parents/uncles/friends basement or that extra room in the house that they basically never leave. Give them wifi to overspend on DoorDash 2-3x a day and to get on Instagram, they are GTG.

Plan B is to work a 'gig' job at Target making 25/hr until they have enough money for the rent their parents have been bugging them about or that trip they want to go on. Then they quit and file unemployment again. Rinse/repeat.

I have 2 friends who own trade businesses that can't find employees and are backlogged until basically forever. They say they constantly have people calling them about a job who have 0 experience, couldn't pass a drug test if there was a 10k bonus for doing so and didn't leave you with a question as to if they are not totally fucking retarded after a phone call. Oh, they all want $35/hr+ or its just not 'worth it' to them; I'm sure their resumes consist of jobs at a convenience store, jail, and 14 different jobs over 18 months.

They are completely divorced from reality and society. There is a large segment of them out there who are back to being children living at home and actually have 'my parents inheritance' as a future plan on how to subsist.

The problem for them is, within a year or so all of the benefits are gone and all of that 'oh you can stay here' is going to come due. People will NEED to go back to doing something and by that time they'll all be standing there with the same poor look on their face when they realize that 25/hr job is not back to $9.

And no one will care.

Very much agree with this. I think its important to identify why they gave up in the first place, as opposed to other generations. I am barely too old to be a millennial, but the following was my experience:

Millenials (and myself) had smoke blown up their ass their whole lives that, if they got any college education, the day they got the degree they'd have companies throwing jobs at them for tons of money and they'd be set for life. So they go to college and one of the following happens:

1. They got a shit degree, then get out and find out that its worthless because there aren't any jobs in that field. So they quit.
2. They got a degree, found the job for which they were trained, and discovered the starting pay wouldn't even cover a mortgage. So they quit.
3. They got the degree, found the job with decent pay, but couldn't handle the stress of actually having responsibility. So they quit.
4. Both 2 and 3.

At the same time as all the smoke was being blown about "careers", what makes millennials different is they grew up with NO IDEA how to handle adversity. NONE. Nobody fails. Everyone gets a trophy. The world revolves around "me." They grew up on social media, which is a giant pile of "Look at me, I'm great!" "Look what I'm eating right now!" "Look how virtuously I can signal!"

And then the real world slams them in the face with the truth.....you aren't special until you've done something to deserve it. You get paid not what you are worth, but what you negotiate. You are replaceable until you've made yourself irreplaceable with hard work and skills. So, instead of being on top of the mountain by getting a college degree, they discover that they are still at the bottom. They thought the degree was a helicopter ticket, when in reality it was a trail pass, for a rocky steep trail.

Because the world revolves around them and they have never failed, they can't handle that. So they quit.

My wife falls into case #1. Has never used her degree for one day. Myself was case #2. I discovered the pay for my career wasn't what I expected for my life, and I was disappointed. I had totally swallowed the promises of "Get a degree and everything is instantly taken care of." So I quit, but not to check out. I came from a self-employed family and understood business, hard work, and value. I wasn't afraid of adversity. The world never revolved around me, never had social media growing up. I quit to start my own business and control my own destiny.

I firmly believe the millenial generation is the fruit of social media-fed narcissism mixed with everyone gets a trophy and college is a golden ticket.

 

[34SF]

I'm trying to fix my landscaping after a major storm took down two 60 ft trees and ripped up my yard. Short of the tree "rescue" guys, I can't anyone to work for a reasonable rate. They all want to estimate the job by me taking pictures and sending to them and walk through the areas that need work with the video on (my wife thinks they don't have cars). Then a three day to a week wait until..."I'll do that job for $80 an hour, times three for my crew. We only work Saturdays. You pay for all fuel, disposal runs, and any extra tools we need. So, I'm doing it my self so far. The jackass that was supposed to repair 21 feet of redwood fencing wanted $1800 upfront and couldn't promise he get it done on the weekend. Called the night before and said he'd come get the money but couldn't start work until the next weekend. I'm 62 and fat. I don't need this shit but I went out and bought the material and did it all in one day for less than 500. (Yes, I was in the meds after the job was done and didn't walk for two days but I'm sure that was from the wife's cooking and nothing else.) Now I just have piles of extra dirt every where that needs to be put in a trailer and hauled away. Basic MOS 1D10T shovel operator work. I've had three crews come out and no one will touch it for less than $40 an hour plus fuel. They stand in my yard with their iced Faggachinos, vape boxes, and fresh full sleeve tattoos, telling me how bad they need the work. I wish I had just a little insight in to what is going on in the job world. Don't the parasites have to eat, buy Faggachinos, buy their vape shit? On top of rent and Gru-hub, they have to need the money at some point. And this is semi rural northern Nevada. I expected the world supply of high school seniors to call and do this for car money. Nope, everyone is a 20-something who likes to call me dude. Seriously, WTF?

 

[BJames]

Well this may be partially true, but I think it may be skewed this way where you live, especially if youre in a major city.

Where are you that Target is paying $25 an hour? that $10 more than the Targets around me are paying and they are desperate too, or so it seems.

Im actually in the tail end of the millenial generation, but ive been working for the entirety of the pandemic and only recently quit my job due to entirely unrelated reasons (well not ENTIRELY, if you read my first paragraph).
But anyways, the other problem I see with this theory is its not just young people, I know of guys that are in their 60s that lost their jobs when the pandemic initially hit and were out of work for a while for that reason or because they were actually sick with long term corona, and now that they are trying to go back to work, despite the "Booming Job market" they cant get hired, which seems very strange to me.

I think part of your theory is accurate, but it seems like there are many extenuating circumstances that are unforseen and they all vary from state to state.

I was happy to have a part time job that payed $18 an hour so I could have time to raise my child and not put her in day care, but 7-12 hours a week REALLY is not worth it with gas now. When I was thinking part time, I wanted 20-30 hours a week. I never complained about the pay, I wanted the hours.

Needless to say, yes im a millenial and Im frustrated. But I have not collected unemployment ever and I didnt even get the entirety of the stimulus package share I was supposed to based on my income. So, with that said, I still dont know WTF is going on.

I didn’t read all the posts on this thread, didn’t really need to. I do agree with what a lot of guys said about increasing your station in life. Good on you for continuing to work and not suck on the .gov tit, tip of the hat sir.

That said, I firmly believe everybody needs a marketable skill/trade that pays better than $18 hourly. Not shitting on you, seriously. There’s a lot of trades you can get into that will take care of and provide for your family and their futures. Trades that don’t take a college degree or a shit load of time to see come to fruition, apprenticeships and such (people always need electricity and a shitter!). It’s not easy, but completely doable.

Fwiw, I’m in the same age bracket as you and travel weekly for work, all across the US. As far as the employee shortages are concerned, my observation has been that those are mostly entry level positions, skilled positions also have lots of opportunities as well and the job market is booming. A friend of mine is a paralegal and just wrote her own ticket for a firm in Seattle.

 

[forthehunt]

Damn you [insert patriarchy, white supremacy, bullshit here].

Fuck that new age shit. I am the patriarchy. I worked 7 days a week, 12 hours a day for a year and started my own business when I was 25. Haven't been anything but the don since (although like any business owner, I have never felt like the don. More like janitor/director.)

 

[forthehunt]

I went to work at an LGS for the love of the hobby. When you work for a big store, the good ones usually let you buy retail stuff at wholesale price just for working there and thats pretty hard to pass up. That should be pretty easy to understand, were on a gun forum for god sakes lol.

Not piling on you (not that I think others shouldn't as this is the pit), this comment reminds me of some very good words...

Never turn a hobby into a living.

 

[muzzleloader]

When I was a kid I walked 5 miles in the snow uphill both ways just to be able to pay someone for the opportunity to work

There are some generations out there today that don't get it (I can't name their generation, nor do I care, but I see them) starting at the bottom is a real thing. Doing things you don't like to build up to doing the things you like.

I exaggerate a bit, it was only uphill one way. I will leave you with this, when I was young, I worked for FREE to learn skills.
It was well worth it

Sometimes you do things you don’t like for little money and get told to do things you like even less for a little more money. Eventually you’re responsible for some turds below you with zero desire to Do The Job they signed up for. But you you keep after it cause you got kids and they got needs.
Then suddenly you got 40 years in and and hopefully those you love have a better life AND are doing the same for those they love. Idk, boomer(younger) talk.

 

[HKslave]

Lol you took a job collecting money for event parking thinking it was gonna solve your problems? No wonder you didn't cut it as a welder.

oh man you must be so rich. I wish i could make money like you. What does the inside of a vagina feel like?

 

[stello1001]

You're looking in the wrong places for jobs. Get your ass out of those fancy skyscraper downtown building and leave those for the younger guy working through college or coming out of college. Get yourself a job in industrial construction and you'll putting in 50 to 84 hours a week. And you'll likely get started at where those other jobs you were looking at were topping out on the per hour rate.

 

[HKslave]

If you have a degree in welding use it. The whole more school bullshit doesn’t hold water. I’ve been welding for the better part of 20 years, never stepped foot in a school. You need the drive and grit to get your start, acquire a larger skill set, and advance. Yeah I made a shit wage when I started, I also worked 60-90 hours a week to offset it. You aren’t going to make top dollar just breaking out. My trade has provided many years of six figure salaries. Get off your ass and go and get it. Quit fuckin cryin around. There’s no pussies in the hall of fame.

What is it that you all think im crying about when i said I was happy to take a part time job at the pay they were offering so i could have free time to raise a kid but was only disappointed to find out they werent gonna have hardly any hours available to work?

everyone alot of you are comparing me to sounds like a worthless asshole that thinks they should earn more and work less. I signed up for the wage, all I wanted was for them to give me the fuckin work hours.

And on that note, maybe it does have alot to do with lazy douchebags, but the jobs would probably have alot better time finding people if they would be accurately representing the position they are hiring for instead of promising thw moon and delivering a moonpie.

 

[Long_Action]

Out of the blue, you quit your job to be a stay at home dad.... Do you have a money tree in the backyard, or is the wife working the pole? I'd like to help you out financially. Does your family have an onlyfans account? I'd gladly pay $20 a month to see some ping pong balls fly across your bedroom. People don't think jobs be like it be, but it do..... but it do!

 

[Lange Carabine]

You are going on the same assumption that everyone does when they hear someone admit they are a millenial. Are you another boomer that just likes to shit on millenials?

Those particular contract jobs didnt have anyone that stuck around. Good welders go to school for longer than average ones do. That is a fact, not a generational thing. I only got sent in for very basic welding certs, not the crazy multi million dollar under water welding project. And no, thats not because "those meanys wouldnt let me in their program", it was because I honestly lost interest in the trade as a whole. The truth is the most jobs that you qualify for with basic welding training pay shitty.

Typical BS millenial mentality, go to school just long enough to learn enough to be dangerous then expect an employer to start you out at the top earning top pay.
Welders, just like everybody else, only learn the basics in school. Theres only so much you can learn in a classroom, skill sets are built on the job.
Why do you think most apprenticeships last 4 years on average?
As for your last comment, those with the least experience always start out at the bottom doing the crappiest jobs for the least pay.
I learned the basics of welding in vocational school.
Went to technical college after that and earned an Associate's degree in industrail maintenance, which included more welding classes consisting of the same thing i learned in voc.
Served a 4 1/2 year apprenticeship with the Millwrights after that.
All that adds up to about 8 years altogether, then i was considered a skilled craftsman and became eligible for top money and the better jobs.
I ended up working 34 years in the trades, the last 20 of it running my own metal fab/ heavy equipment repair business.
Retired in Feb. 2019 at age 51.
Thats how it is in the real world cupcake, you start out at the bottom and work your way up....

 

[RUTGERS95]

I went to work at an LGS for the love of the hobby. When you work for a big store, the good ones usually let you buy retail stuff at wholesale price just for working there and thats pretty hard to pass up. That should be pretty easy to understand, were on a gun forum for god sakes lol.

yeah we got off topic for a sec but this was what I was getting at originally. Like all these jobs need people RIGHT NOW on indeed but theyre these shitty little consulting firms or some bullshit that Ive never heard of before, or places like the ones i described in my first post

Actually no because I'm an adult and make adult decisions. You definitely didn't think that move through but hey, you get sell all that shit you bought at wholesale to pay for family stuff now

 

[hukset402]

oh man you must be so rich. I wish i could make money like you. What does the inside of a vagina feel like?

Far from rich. Infact on the hide I'm more of a poor. But I did start at an entry position, made shit money and worked long hours, learned a lot and moved up in life. Now I have a job I honestly enjoy that pays all my bills and takes care of my family. You get out what you put in. The job market is strange right now

1. people can get paid $15 an hour or more to dona job that takes no skill or brain power what so ever.

2. People think $15 an hour to do that same job isn't enough. It's wild.

My advice would be get your self a fresh hair cut, get some nice looking clothes from kohl's or somewhere and go be a salesman somewhere That pays you commission. Maybe you can bat your eyes at an elderly couple enough to sell them something and make some money.

 

[Maggot]

Theres a guy, a grown man, who stands in front of the local grocery store with a sign 'Family, please help". He used to have his young children out with him, even in the ice and snow, until I called social services on him. What gets me is that 20 feet away there is a sign on the door saying "Help wanted, $15 to start for baggers."

It takes all I can muster not to go over and have a 'conversation' with him. I hate parasites.

 

[HKslave]

Out of the blue, you quit your job to be a stay at home dad.... Do you have a money tree in the backyard, or is the wife working the pole? I'd like to help you out financially. Does your family have an onlyfans account? I'd gladly pay $20 a month to see some ping pong balls fly across your bedroom. People don't think jobs be like it be, but it do..... but it do!

Im slingin dick on a smokin hot cam girl fool.

Great to see ive created another echo chamber for forum skells to take things out of context and project their insecurities upon me.

 

[HKslave]

View attachment 7855224Typical BS millenial mentality, go to school just long enough to learn enough to be dangerous then expect an employer to start you out at the top earning top pay.
Welders, just like everybody else, only learn the basics in school. Theres only so much you can learn in a classroom, skill sets are built on the job.
Why do you think most apprenticeships last 4 years on average?
As for your last comment, those with the least experience always start out at the bottom doing the crappiest jobs for the least pay.
I learned the basics of welding in vocational school.
Went to technical college after that and earned an Associate's degree in industrail maintenance, which included more welding classes consisting of the same thing i learned in voc.
Served a 4 1/2 year apprenticeship with the Millwrights after that.
All that adds up to about 8 years altogether, then i was considered a skilled craftsman and became eligible for top money and the better jobs.
I ended up working 34 years in the trades, the last 20 of it running my own metal fab/ heavy equipment repair business.
Retired in Feb. 2019 at age 51.
Thats how it is in the real world cupcake, you start out at the bottom and work your way up....

It sounds like you just told me all that to make yourself feel better. Cupcake.

 

[Lange Carabine]

It sounds like you just told me all that to make yourself feel better. Cupcake.

No, i was stating the bleeding obvious... you're nothing but an lazy entitled prick that thinks the world owes you a living.

 

[Maggot]

It sounds like you just told me all that to make yourself feel better. Cupcake.

Comes here looking for advice. Cant handle it. Gets defensive..

 

[hukset402]

I guess my question is what is your number? What is your ideal situation? If your cam girl baby momma, who for some reason let you inside her, isn't making enough to support your vape addiction and feed your crotch goblin.

What is your ideal way out of your predicament?

 

[lightman]

View attachment 7855145

Another "been there and done that" for me. I was the guy on the right.

 

[HKslave]

Comes here looking for advice. Cant handle it. Gets defensive..

His wasnt really advice, i never asked for career advice. More inquiring about where all the bogus is originating ie. What @TheGerman said.

Everyone else just came to dispell their preconceived notions about how everyone born after 1992 are all "jobless democratic socialists" who dont know what a savings account is.

Its absurd how self righteous adults can create such a rift between otherwise like minded people.

 

[hukset402]

Bogus jobs are a result of a bogus talent pool.

 

[HKslave]

I guess my question is what is your number? What is your ideal situation? If your cam girl baby momma, who for some reason let you inside her, isn't making enough to support your vape addiction and feed your crotch goblin.

What is your ideal way out of your predicament?

I dont have a real predicament because I understand the concept of saving money, but if i did have a predicament i sure as fuck wouldnt come here to ask any of you guys about it after reading what most of you had to say.

Did none of you guys read my OP? why is everyone hiring when it sounds like most of the places out there dont ACTUALLY need, or even want the type of people available as bad as they say they do? The job market is not just millennial douchebags. Its all age groups over 18 and there are plenty of geezers out there unemployed for some reason too.

 

[HKslave]

No, i was stating the bleeding obvious... you're nothing but an lazy entitled prick that thinks the world owes you a living.

Did i say anybody owes me anything besides the hours i was promised i could put in work?

Seems like you got things figured out for yourself. Go shit on someone elses thread.

 

[Nik H]

There was an old saying.... Arbeit Macht Frei​

 

[HKslave]

There was an old saying.... Arbeit Macht Frei​

View attachment 7855262

Its a shame how relatable this is. No matter how much the pay is not many jobs are genuinely rewarding anymore where its more about just being proud of what you do. Working at the gun store was, for a time at least. Until my store went along with the price gouging that was going on everywhere and they left it to the guys up front to have to explain it away to the customers somwhow.

Most general unskilled labor really is just cog in the machine type shit. At the gun store i genuinely loved being an armorer and decking peoples rifles out, but then they took that service away too because of the pandemic since the store was flooded with customers 7 days a week 2 years in a row.

 

[Maggot]

Its absurd how self righteous adults can create such a rift between otherwise like minded people.

With that I can agree.

 

[Maggot]

I dodnt understand a lot of the current situation.

Personally, I love to work. I prefer physical labor as at the end of the day I can see what Ive accomplished...and it makes you sleep well.

 

[aslrookie]

I went to work at an LGS for the love of the hobby. When you work for a big store, the good ones usually let you buy retail stuff at wholesale price just for working there and thats pretty hard to pass up. That should be pretty easy to understand, were on a gun forum for god sakes lol.

yeah we got off topic for a sec but this was what I was getting at originally. Like all these jobs need people RIGHT NOW on indeed but theyre these shitty little consulting firms or some bullshit that Ive never heard of before, or places like the ones i described in my first post

This all makes sense now. So you’re telling me that you passed up on opportunities within the trades to work retail, then get discounts, then spend your paycheck on the stuff you can’t afford, then quit to stay home, and now the job market has you frustrated.

Sounds like you need to have a look in the mirror and do some soul searching. While going to college, I did some work on the side for a dude who ran a 2 man operation doing data network installation. The owner also does metal fabrication/welding projects as additional income. He does very well for himself. So much that he has multiple prop planes in his hangar.

Moral of the story, stop acting like a victim. If you can’t see past that, then you’ll forever be in this position.

 

[Slash0311]

Have you (OP) ever stopped to consider its not the "whole job market" but rather just the types you applied for? From your posts, it sounds as if the jobs you applied for fit a profile.

I'm glad you chose to be a stay at home dad relying on someone else to earn money to support you.

 

[Average guy]

What is it that you all think im crying about when i said I was happy to take a part time job at the pay they were offering so i could have free time to raise a kid but was only disappointed to find out they werent gonna have hardly any hours available to work?

everyone alot of you are comparing me to sounds like a worthless asshole that thinks they should earn more and work less. I signed up for the wage, all I wanted was for them to give me the fuckin work hours.

And on that note, maybe it does have alot to do with lazy douchebags, but the jobs would probably have alot better time finding people if they would be accurately representing the position they are hiring for instead of promising thw moon and delivering a moonpie.

You are a grown ass man with a skill you paid to be taught. But you are looking for a part time job parking cars. For fucks sake, get off your ass and ho make big boy money. Leave everyone else out of this, this is about you.

 

[vinniedelpino]

So this is not a post looking for job opportunities, far from it.
I recently left my job at a gun store to be a full time dad temporarily, but also because answering 1000 phone calls a day from people asking "Yall got any 9mm?" for two years straight has caused my sanity to erode to the point that my left eye now permanently twitches and I wake up sweating profusely from vivid night terrors where Im trapped behind a cash register with a line of imbeciles a mile long that are ALL wondering why primers are now $200 a box.

So, after about 2 months of doing nothing but trying to raise the kiddo up right, Ive begun to apply for some jobs. So far 1 of every 2 applications Ive submitted has called back for an Interview, and Ive gotten hired for 2 different jobs on the spot (more on that later). By the way, nobody is doing real interviews anymore, like where they ask you about your background and experience before telling you they'll call you back so the next guy can get seen. No, its "Do you have a drivers license? What days are you available? Great, when can you start?"

So far, most of the interviews ive gone to ive had to drive 30 minutes into the closest metropolitan area to me to go up to these big nice offices in skyscrapers downtown, and the whole presentation of the company is big and flashy, until they finally get to the part where they tell you what your actually doing, and it turns out to be a gig selling phone plans at a booth in walmart or going door to door to try and con people into some bogus insurance or pest control plan etc.

So for one, it seems like employers are blowing their outfits WAY out of proportion on the listings they post on indeed. But anyways...

Now, the offers I had initially accepted were both headquartered in locations like the places described above. The first was a security outfit run by a single guy who took bids on jobs, and I ended up backing out of the job I had accepted because he only wanted to pay $13 an hour for un-armed overnight security jobs in sketchy locations that he himself was not even familiar with, which meant he wanted me to drive 1hr-1hr and a half to some random truck stop out in the country he had never been to so I could scope it out for him and sit in some shack all night to chase hookers off the lot or something to that extent.

The second job i "took" was also in a big fancy building. Its an event staffing place that started employees out at $17.50 an hour. Not the best wage, but not the worst. They praised themselves as being a positive team with flexibility to let you make your own schedule and they quote "urgently needed 50 to 100 new employees" to do valet, traffic coordination and what not. So I do the training and stuff and get signed up on their scheduling app, and theres like 7 to 14 hours per week TOPS available to work. Thats hardly even worth spending the gas money to show up at the job for that many hours per week, after they PROMISED they had TONS of upcoming events they desperately needed people for. So needless to say I probably wont be runnin with this gig for very long.

SO IF YOU ACTUALLY READ ALL THAT, wtf is going on? Is the only reason there are so many available jobs because freelance entrepreneurs have all left their previous employers to strike out and run countless crappy businesses out of nice offices that were offering discounted rates on rental space because of the coronavirus pandemic?
Why does it seem like literally EVERY place of employment is hemorrhaging workers and cant find anyone to replace them? Making $17.50 an hour now is like making $13 an hour 2 years ago because of Brandon fucking up our gas prices.

TL;DR

What is REALLY causing places to need employees so bad even when unemployed people seem to be staying unemployed? The govt benefits are drying up by now, what the fuck is going on?

Here's a golden nugget of truth....

1. Employees are far more expensive than it might seem. Between FICA taxes, SUTA, FUTA, workers comp, health insurance, retirement matching, paid vacation and so on and so forth, it adds up. Your take home pay is just a fraction of the cost of carrying an employee. Hiring and training an employee is always a bit of a gamble. By the time they get into the swing of things, there's a high probability that they're going leave for greener pastures in short order. People don't stay with one company very long anymore, and if you're looking for entry level jobs you can expect shit pay. It comes with the territory. Everyone likes to think they're worth a six figure paycheck. Few actually are, especially in a day and age where there's an unlimited supply of Philippinos willing to do the same work for pennies on the dollar without benefits.

2. The statistics you read about half of all businesses failing within two years and 80% failing within five years are complete and utter bullshit. I believed that crap too until I got into public accounting. In my personal experience, less than 25% actually fail and you can see the failures coming from a mile away. If you're of average intelligence ad have a decent work ethic, you're far better working for yourself in the long run. Play your cards right and you might even build a little equity along the way.

You want to make good money? Work for yourself. Need benefits for the little one? Fine, but ALWAYS KEEP A SIDE HUSTLE. If you're going to take a shit job, take one you can learn from and consider this education your primary form of compensation. Leverage that education to start your own thing and hang on for dear life until you see the fruits of your labor.

 

[HKslave]

This all makes sense now. So you’re telling me that you passed up on opportunities within the trades to work retail, then get discounts, then spend your paycheck on the stuff you can’t afford, then quit to stay home, and now the job market has you frustrated.

Sounds like you need to have a look in the mirror and do some soul searching. While going to college, I did some work on the side for a dude who ran a 2 man operation doing data network installation. The owner also does metal fabrication/welding projects as additional income. He does very well for himself. So much that he has multiple prop planes in his hangar.

Moral of the story, stop acting like a victim. If you can’t see past that, then you’ll forever be in this position.

You know what, your right. Really. I dont know what the fuck I was thinking coming on here to ask a bunch of individuals who are clearly over qualified to be talking to anyone like me about a generalized question concerning the economy.

Guess i really stepped outa line asking my new employer for some extra hours huh? How about, for my reparations to all you guys i must've offended so much, ill donate this thread to you so you can say whatever you want about how much of a failure i am. And lump everyone else whos roughly 30 years old in their with me since were all a bunch of lazy do nothing shit stains.

AND, I wont read any of it! Oh wow sounds great right. You guys must be really miserable. Seriously, you have to really hate youself deep down to make it a priority to burn randos online who dont fit into your worldview.

Have fun assholes.

 

[Average guy]

Go find a safe space and cry. You just proved many peoples pounts

 

[Lange Carabine]

You guys must be really miserable.

Cant speak for everyone, but I'm far from miserable.
Im too busy enjoying the good life i worked for all those years.
Go be a snowflake somewhere else.
Bye Felicia...

 

[theLBC]

You know what, your right. Really. I dont know what the fuck I was thinking coming on here to ask a bunch of individuals who are clearly over qualified to be talking to anyone like me about a generalized question concerning the economy.

Guess i really stepped outa line asking my new employer for some extra hours huh? How about, for my reparations to all you guys i must've offended so much, ill donate this thread to you so you can say whatever you want about how much of a failure i am. And lump everyone else whos roughly 30 years old in their with me since were all a bunch of lazy do nothing shit stains.

AND, I wont read any of it! Oh wow sounds great right. You guys must be really miserable. Seriously, you have to really hate youself deep down to make it a priority to burn randos online who dont fit into your worldview.

Have fun assholes.

lol, you gotta have a thick hide here, and that is a fact.

i think your apparent sensitivity to off the cuff forum criticism from complete strangers is connected to the reason you are dissatisfied with every job you have or are offered.
while i was sympathetic at first, i am beginning to agree that you just need to man up, put your big boy pants on, and realize that life isn't gravy.
if you like welding, take a crap job while you get experience and more training (for better jobs). that is how it works.
fuck. i started in IT at a helpdesk.
the forum members know i have zero patience, and i didn't walk off the job because i had to talk to retards for 8 hours a day.
if i could get by with a job at a gun store, i wouldn't give a shit how many times i had to tell folks "no fucking 9mm or 6.5 manbun yet".

 

[BCP]

The wife and I have talked about this as length. We came up with what I think is the answer a while back and it checks out the more I talk to people who own a business as well as people who are working their normal job that they 'survived' through all the covid bullshit with. They all say very similar things.

It's the beginning of what we call "The Great Millenial Give Up".

Where are all of the employees when there are 1000 'help wanted' ads up literally everywhere? They fucking gave up. Not in a sense that they gave up because the odds were against them, but in a sense that they generally made bad life decisions and really got nowhere in life, didn't have or want to have what it took to actually succeed and came to the honest realization that this was true.

This coincided with a 'pandemic' that gave them not only an excuse, but a mandate to stay at home and do literally nothing and receive as much, or more income than they received based on their worth to society, which usually wasn't much. The 'safe spaces' and social justice bullshit took a backseat to sitting at home in your underwear, getting high, playing XBOX and having the .gov paying you to do it all with no real end in sight.

Days turned to weeks. Weeks to months. Months to basically 2 years of this. This was long enough for them to 'adapt' to a sedentary, isolationist lifestyle where the entire free market system basically ceased to exist to them. Why? They don't 'need' it and they don't want to deal with it again because all it meant to them was bullshit work, low wages and made up shit like the reason that they fail so bad is because whyd peopo or some dumb shit.

This was the first shoe to drop. Basically taking them out of our society as producers in any degree and making them subsidized consumers. Divorcing them from society was very easy as society really never gave them anything and they were easily done with it.

Then came the market adjustments due to the fake pandemic, inflation and supply shortages. Target where I live has been openly advertising that they are paying $25/hour for positions I could do if I was blackout drunk. Local restaurants and business are all offering a ridiculous starting wage that literally NOONE deserves working there. So will they all come back and get a fucking job; because remember the whole push to $15/hour and that would fix everything? Of fucking course not.

The mentality is this. They have separated themselves from basically the outside world. They also continue to make horrible life decisions. They don't really need a car or want car insurance because they'll just Uber it. They don't want health insurance because why? Going to work costs gas, is inconvenient and a primary trigger for their made up mental disorders. They happily defeat themselves into living in their parents/uncles/friends basement or that extra room in the house that they basically never leave. Give them wifi to overspend on DoorDash 2-3x a day and to get on Instagram, they are GTG.

Plan B is to work a 'gig' job at Target making 25/hr until they have enough money for the rent their parents have been bugging them about or that trip they want to go on. Then they quit and file unemployment again. Rinse/repeat.

I have 2 friends who own trade businesses that can't find employees and are backlogged until basically forever. They say they constantly have people calling them about a job who have 0 experience, couldn't pass a drug test if there was a 10k bonus for doing so and didn't leave you with a question as to if they are not totally fucking retarded after a phone call. Oh, they all want $35/hr+ or its just not 'worth it' to them; I'm sure their resumes consist of jobs at a convenience store, jail, and 14 different jobs over 18 months.

They are completely divorced from reality and society. There is a large segment of them out there who are back to being children living at home and actually have 'my parents inheritance' as a future plan on how to subsist.

The problem for them is, within a year or so all of the benefits are gone and all of that 'oh you can stay here' is going to come due. People will NEED to go back to doing something and by that time they'll all be standing there with the same poor look on their face when they realize that 25/hr job is not back to $9.

And no one will care.

Inflation and cost of living have gone through the roof and wages are still flat. Greed, endlessly printing money, open borders, it will take 3-4 generations to fix the mess that boomers have caused.

 

[NoDopes]

Not to throw more gas on this bonfire, but before I went to college I looked up the future estimated career demands and salary averages. Not sure how you get caught off guard on that.
On the other hand, I just quit a job paying $220K+Benefits because the CEO swapped out all management with his buddies who are idiots, and besides driving a $170M project into total chaos, it has now burned over $400M and climbing and any worker with any competency has already quit. They did manage to form a new diversity, equity and inclusion department, so I guess not a total waste. A man has to know his limits.

 

[Cowpokey]

Fuck that new age shit. I am the patriarchy. I worked 7 days a week, 12 hours a day for a year and started my own business when I was 25. Haven't been anything but the don since (although like any business owner, I have never felt like the don. More like janitor/director.)

You missed the point, but it's not your fault. I hoped my reply would be easy to understand, but we still don't have a sarcasm font on SH; I blame Frank.

 

[FWoo45]

$15 minimum wage is bullshit but also the law here in kali. It is what the part time high school kids start at. We’ve got 5 of em working after school and weekends at the shop. Happy to train welders, most bail for a buck in a few years but the ones that stick around make good money. Not just welders either. Assembly guys and painters are all doing well. I’m a millennial and I started this job when I was 17, thought I was God’s gift to welding after high school shop classes. Obviously I didn’t know shit but now I’m the guy giving the interviews. Start at the bottom and work.

The answer to your question is that most people under 40 don’t really want to work to get ahead. They’re happy living off what they get from the gov and just finding a job that allows them to live paycheck to paycheck and play as much frisbee golf as they want. They hate the idea of overtime. You’ll never get a bigger raise than when that time and a half kicks in. The way the gov taxes overtime/performance bonuses is bullshit but a different convo.

 

[WaltHer]

This article sums up much of what's been said here. Not optimistic about the future with Gen M/Z coming along.

Gen Z does not dream of labor

On TikTok and online, the youngest workers are rejecting work as we know it. How will that play out IRL?

www.vox.com

 

[Cowpokey]

<snip> They hate the idea of overtime. You’ll never get a bigger raise than when that time and a half kicks in. The way the gov taxes overtime/performance bonuses is bullshit but a different convo.

I don't get time and a half, I get straight pay for overtime...and the gov takes 41% of that off the top, same with a bonus. It's bullshit.

 

[Cowpokey]

You know what, your right. Really. I dont know what the fuck I was thinking coming on here to ask a bunch of individuals who are clearly over qualified to be talking to anyone like me about a generalized question concerning the economy.

Guess i really stepped outa line asking my new employer for some extra hours huh? How about, for my reparations to all you guys i must've offended so much, ill donate this thread to you so you can say whatever you want about how much of a failure i am. And lump everyone else whos roughly 30 years old in their with me since were all a bunch of lazy do nothing shit stains.

AND, I wont read any of it! Oh wow sounds great right. You guys must be really miserable. Seriously, you have to really hate youself deep down to make it a priority to burn randos online who dont fit into your worldview.

Have fun assholes.

Do the world a favor; DO NOT bring anymore children into the world...we can't afford to feed you, let alone any extra ankle biters you spawn.

 

[Sniperwannabee]

When is someone going to tell him to join the military?

 

[TxWelder35]

You know what, your right. Really. I dont know what the fuck I was thinking coming on here to ask a bunch of individuals who are clearly over qualified to be talking to anyone like me about a generalized question concerning the economy.

Guess i really stepped outa line asking my new employer for some extra hours huh? How about, for my reparations to all you guys i must've offended so much, ill donate this thread to you so you can say whatever you want about how much of a failure i am. And lump everyone else whos roughly 30 years old in their with me since were all a bunch of lazy do nothing shit stains.

AND, I wont read any of it! Oh wow sounds great right. You guys must be really miserable. Seriously, you have to really hate youself deep down to make it a priority to burn randos online who dont fit into your worldview.

Have fun assholes.

Don’t lump me in with you. 28 and have a successful welding business. I started working at 14 for free for experience. Well the owner did give me a $100 visa gift card every month.

I’ll give you an profound moment I had at around 17/18 that changed my way of thinking. Was roughly 2013, making $13/hr which was damn good money for my age and the time. Was working for a flight school fueling airplanes, general facility maintenance, working on the planes when someone wanted to teach me something. Anyway they had a small lawn that needed to be kept mowed. I hated mowing with a passion. Anyway I’m pushing the shitty ass mower bitching and moaning to myself thinking I’m not getting paid enough to be mowing this stupid lawn. Exactly after thinking that I had a moment of clarity and realized I was getting paid double what it was worth at the time to be cutting that lawn. That moment changed how I thought about that job and my general outlook on work forever. That job paid me damn good money to learn so much as growing kid.

Anyway now a decade later I bill $450 for the first hour and $150/hr after that. Bid work is even better which healthy profit margins.

When my wife gave us our 2 kids there was no daddy stays home for 2 months bs. Mom stays home, you go work and pay for it. Somebody has to provide for those 2 kids unless momma is selling subscriptions to her titty pics.

I think I netted close to 10k last week. I really don’t love welding either. But when you make $3k in 2 days crawling around in a trash truck you suck it up.

Next weekend I’m driving 3hrs to Austin doing 3 hours of work, and driving back, total bill is $3250 iirc.

I’m honestly not trying to flex or yada yada, but just show you that there is damn good money to be made if you are above average intelligence and work ethic. If you can weld and aren’t making good money that is 100% your own fault. Don’t come bitching to anyone but the bathroom mirror

Moral of the story, stop bitching, get off your stay at home dad ass, and go earn some damn money. It’s literally ripe for the picking hanging off every tree right now. Now you do have to go fetch the ladder that’s across the field to pick it but I guess that’s too hard for most.