Scott Walker on Hiring Workers

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by boxcar

Would you go as far to say that your experience speaks to an ongoing degradation in sound moral values?

It's a huge portion of it. It really is. Lives wrecked by the time they have to take a low wage job. Mostly related to multiple unplanned pregnancy, drugs and the occasional person with absolutely no family ties, no sense of why due to being ostracized by friends and family after drug use or extreme immoral activity. Some families eventually just won't continue to support members who are continually starting over, getting a second chance.

These people end up walking 5 miles to work for an 8 dollar an hour job in cold weather and they think they are victims. My wife and I go out of our way to assist these people but there is always one more piece to the puzzle that you don't hear from them. I drove two employees home last night at 11 p.m. Their rides didn't show up, for unknown reasons. Both living dysfunctional lives after crack or alcohol addiction, or both.

They are proud to declare they are "recovering" addicts. As if they are the next Robert Downey Jr. its a badge of honor. But when you dig into their stories you always find that they did something in their lives to put them where they are. From plain stupidity to criminal activity. It's never their fault though.

The last ten years or so we have encountered a new type though. Young people who can't understand why they are not hugely successful. They were going to be a famous Rapper, or Actress. Sometimes they have head shots, video tapes and complete songs on their phones etc. mostly they have all fallen into drugs or they have multiple illegitimate kids etc. the one thing these types all have in common seems to be no appreciation or awareness of real talent and where they stand. It's like Zippy Chippy showing up for the Breeders Cup classic and while being loaded into the gate, he has no idea how fast the other guys are.

They have no sense of proportion, training etc. often they have no idea what they are doing except that "in school all my teachers said I was great" and I have heard that many times. My wife ran a restaurant in Brentwood Ca and every single front of the house employee was an aspiring actor/actress and these guys were truly a cut above. Looks wise etc. Out of 75 or so only about 4-5 actually got any real paid work. And those were odd jobs in commercials or at Disney. The rest were constantly going on auditions etc. but most had a sense of what they were doing. They were taking acting lessons, singing and vocal lessons and the like. They were part of a community of wannabe actors who had a goal and mapped a path. Most don't get that far.

There are millions who think it just happens, and everybody is going to be famous. Most end up waiting tables or washing dishes after they don't get to be famous. Then it takes a while for them to find their way to something else. The lucky ones do that themselves. Some are too fried to get there on their own.

[Clocker]

Originally Posted by boxcar

Would you go as far to say that your experience speaks to an ongoing degradation in sound moral values?

I think that might be going a little too far. The problem is that children are not being educated properly. They are not being taught personal responsibility or common sense or how to function in society. They are catered to and spoiled.

If a child doesn't learn early in life, at home, that his actions have consequences and that he has certain responsibilities as a member of the family, how can he be expected to act otherwise in the workplace?

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by Clocker

I think that might be going a little too far. The problem is that children are not being educated properly. They are not being taught personal responsibility or common sense or how to function in society. They are catered to and spoiled.

If a child doesn't learn early in life, at home, that his actions have consequences and that he has certain responsibilities as a member of the family, how can he be expected to act otherwise in the workplace?

You make more of it than it is. It's worse than actions and consequences etc
They don't know the basic three R's. A cook has to be able to read a recipe from time to time. Most can't. All employees have to fill out forms from time to time, they can't. Math is a requirement for both of those already mentioned. When doing insurance or IRS paperwork you have to be able to add and subtract. Most can't do it accurately. The word "bi-weekly" always throws them. God forbid they have to do multiplication. Most when provided a calculator can't use it. If they can, or they do the math well, are immediately promoted to cashier after initial training because that means they can count money correctly. Even though the computerized cash register/pos does all the math for them, they can't count money correctly when giving change. This causes shortages that can be huge after a cashier runs through 1200 customers in an 8 hour shift.

Now throw in, "Spanish only" and you can see the difficulty.

[jballscalls]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

You make more of it than it is. It's worse than actions and consequences etc
They don't know the basic three R's. A cook has to be able to read a recipe from time to time. Most can't. All employees have to fill out forms from time to time, they can't. Math is a requirement for both of those already mentioned. When doing insurance or IRS paperwork you have to be able to add and subtract. Most can't do it accurately. The word "bi-weekly" always throws them. God forbid they have to do multiplication. Most when provided a calculator can't use it. If they can, or they do the math well, are immediately promoted to cashier after initial training because that means they can count money correctly. Even though the computerized cash register/pos does all the math for them, they can't count money correctly when giving change. This causes shortages that can be huge after a cashier runs through 1200 customers in an 8 hour shift.

Now throw in, "Spanish only" and you can see the difficulty.

I went to a mexican restaurant the other day and ordered steak fajitas to go. It was $14.50 and I gave the gal a $20. She looked at it for a second and then pulled out a calculator to do the math. I sat there shocked that someone needed a calculator for such a ridiculously easy mathematical problem. She proceeded to tell me she's in college right now.

[Robert Fischer]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

You make more of it than it is. It's worse than actions and consequences etc
They don't know the basic three R's. A cook has to be able to read a recipe from time to time. Most can't. All employees have to fill out forms from time to time, they can't. Math is a requirement for both of those already mentioned. When doing insurance or IRS paperwork you have to be able to add and subtract. Most can't do it accurately. The word "bi-weekly" always throws them. God forbid they have to do multiplication. Most when provided a calculator can't use it. If they can, or they do the math well, are immediately promoted to cashier after initial training because that means they can count money correctly. Even though the computerized cash register/pos does all the math for them, they can't count money correctly when giving change. This causes shortages that can be huge after a cashier runs through 1200 customers in an 8 hour shift.

Now throw in, "Spanish only" and you can see the difficulty.

Education of the general public is disincentivized.

Right now the great business model is to dominate the media, and pay unskilled laborers as little as possible, and have those laborers also subsidized (by the public).

It's why you see 2 million employees at Walmart, and 2 million employees at McDonalds etc.. etc...

The media vehicle and the conglomerate take all the money out of the system.

This makes education disincentivized. You need a large pool of low-skilled labor, and that is exactly what we have.

Spend extra time w/ the children in your family and give them all the extra education you can.

[JustRalph]

That's my one beef with Walmart. They are technically using tax payer money as part of their business model. And it has evolved more in the last five years. The percentage of their employees who get state assistance etc has gone way up. The shift to part time is very much responsible for it.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by jballscalls

I went to a mexican restaurant the other day and ordered steak fajitas to go. It was $14.50 and I gave the gal a $20. She looked at it for a second and then pulled out a calculator to do the math. I sat there shocked that someone needed a calculator for such a ridiculously easy mathematical problem. She proceeded to tell me she's in college right now.

You should have told her your change was $11.

[TJDave]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

That's my one beef with Walmart. They are technically using tax payer money as part of their business model. And it has evolved more in the last five years. The percentage of their employees who get state assistance etc has gone way up. The shift to part time is very much responsible for it.

All businesses who pay at or near minimum wage do it.

[HUSKER55]

there are business's up here that have had signs out for a month an no one has applied.

I know the owners of just 3 of them. One of the restaurants we fequent finally decided to let his daughters friends work with her after school. Bigest problem, he has to make a sundaue for them and help them with their home work before he takes them home and he walks them to the door.

He says that is the best part of his day....

the job pays good but no one else wants to work.

can't fault the kids for milking that.

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by TJDave

All businesses who pay at or near minimum wage do it.

But not on the same scale

[therussmeister]

Originally Posted by jballscalls

I went to a mexican restaurant the other day and ordered steak fajitas to go. It was $14.50 and I gave the gal a $20. She looked at it for a second and then pulled out a calculator to do the math. I sat there shocked that someone needed a calculator for such a ridiculously easy mathematical problem. She proceeded to tell me she's in college right now.

Try this, after they calculate the proper change for a $20 give them an additional fifty cents. Nineteen times out of twenty they will give you $5 change and when you tell them the proper change is $6, they will stare at you for a minute, and then have to call a manager to verify it.

[JustRalph]

Russ, I gave up on adding an additional element to the puzzle long ago......

my favorite drive thru moment came years ago when I was traveling cross country and had to settle for some fast food. I ordered a Bacon Swiss burger and they asked if I wanted cheese on it................

[sandpit]

I was in a McAlister's deli with a buddy last year and our bill was $20 and some change, so my friend gave the gal $31. Since she punched in $30 on the cash register, she could not for her life figure out what the right change was. My friend, who is an extremely calm guy, lost it. "It's simple math." She had to ask the manager what the correct change should be.

[Clocker]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

my favorite drive thru moment came years ago when I was traveling cross country and had to settle for some fast food. I ordered a Bacon Swiss burger and they asked if I wanted cheese on it................

I went into a Panera Bread store recently, went up to the counter and asked for a loaf of French bread. The autotron behind the counter promptly asked, "Is that for here or to go?"

[Tom]

Go into a pizza joint and order a pie to be delivered.
When they ask why you want it delivered when you are there, tell them you need a ride home.