Staffing Issues for Summer of 2021

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

Really? You have to ask that?

Let me explain: If more people want to stay home and collect unemployment there will be fewer people looking for and taking jobs. Fewer people taking jobs means more business with unfilled positions.

Or, to put it another way: As long as the government makes it more lucrative to sit on the couch than look for a job and go to work, people will stay home.

As has been said by a local talk show host: The safety net has become a hammock!

The State knows exactly how many checks it writes to the unemployed.
Belknap County in May listed 430 unemployed.

By the middle of June, the State of NH has switched from enhanced unemployment to an incentive.

We are no longer even looking for the correct skill sets to achieve productivity, just warm bodies.

[tis]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

We are no longer even looking for the correct skill sets to achieve productivity, just warm bodies.

Perfectly said! I agree.

[John Mercier]

Even when we do get them... dealing with their scheduling desires and personalities is a huge trick.

It seems that no one wants to work a weekend... which seems so strange to me. So we have to adjust to that and all the customer profiles that fit them.

We just ran the numbers Saturday and found out that I have more sales volume than the other six members of my team.

Oddly, I take off a day mid-week, and my customer profile is anyone that is honestly interested in a product we sell.

[SAMIAM]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

Even when we do get them... dealing with their scheduling desires and personalities is a huge trick.

It seems that no one wants to work a weekend... which seems so strange to me. So we have to adjust to that and all the customer profiles that fit them.

We just ran the numbers Saturday and found out that I have more sales volume than the other six members of my team.

Oddly, I take off a day mid-week, and my customer profile is anyone that is honestly interested in a product we sell.

I hear you.......last saturday at our drive-in there were three teenagers out.
1 soccer camp
1 family vacation
1 called in sick (posted FB video on the lake with friends)
The four that showed up really struggled

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

I hear you.......last saturday at our drive-in there were three teenagers out.
1 soccer camp
1 family vacation
1 called in sick (posted FB video on the lake with friends)
The four that showed up really struggled

I had a Mobil gas station back in the 90's and had the same issues with help back then. The economy was booming, everyone was making and spending a ton of money.
My station was open from 6am to 10pm 364 days a year and I can honestly say I worked pretty close to all of them.
It was a constant battle to find and retain help because you're dealing with young kids that haven't decided on their future path so it's a revolving door.
We use to say, "hold a mirror up to their face and if they fog it up they got the job".
I had that business for 13 years, made a ton of money but I hated every minute of it!
When you have a family of 5 you do what you have to do.
I followed the the old Nike slogan, "just do it".

[phoenix]

And not just the lakes region as Canopie lake park reduces its hours to five days vs seven and closes early other than Friday and Saturday

[John Mercier]

Ours isn't the teenager.
Seems that we have a decent sum of people having mid-life crises with underlying inferiority complexes.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

Ours isn't the teenager.

Seems that we have a decent sum of people having mid-life crises with underlying inferiority complexes.

I don't think there's any need for psychobabble—a whole bunch of people just reexamined their lives and reevaluated how they want to move forward.

I gotta say, if I was a cook in a hot kitchen making $10/hr. for 50 hours a week or a roofer with no benefits paid under the table or a whole host of other jobs with terrible working conditions and little life value, I'd be looking to fix it, too.

One last thing: this isn't just a blue collar thing, either—teachers, nurses, and other white collar professions are leaving in droves after "waking up" to how their employers treated them.

Here's a short article identifying the biggest areas being hit: https://www.fastcompany.com/90654925...at-resignation

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[John Mercier]

Well, they may be moving... but not by choice.
If they won't show up for work when scheduled, then they aren't even a warm body.

[DougNH]

Interesting article...

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/su...food-shortages

[TiltonBB]

In response to worker shortages, some businesses, including some local restaurants, have been able to reduce hours and still be successful.

From the Laconia Sun:

https://www.laconiadailysun.com/news...ticle-nav-prev

[8gv]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

The State knows exactly how many checks it writes to the unemployed.
Belknap County in May listed 430 unemployed.

By the middle of June, the State of NH has switched from enhanced unemployment to an incentive.

We are no longer even looking for the correct skill sets to achieve productivity, just warm bodies.

"Warm bodies"

Back in the day...

I was assigned to a new location that had a shortage of employees, mainly due to poor management.

While preparing the work schedule I found that there were a few shifts I could not cover.

Figuring that later in the week I might find someone to work, I labeled the shifts "Body" just to have a place holder.

A week later I came in for my closing shift and found the store to be quite upside down.

The obviously frazzled day manager, who was on his first shift at the location, greeted me with a litany of troubles.

As he unloaded his frustrations of the day his agitation increased to the level of full melt down.

He capped it off by shouting "and to top it all off this person named 'Body' never showed up for work!"

Welcome to Boston Rd my friend, it's a work in progress...




I am so happy to be a customer frustrated by the staffing shortages rather than a business owner or manager living it 24/7.